Chicago Cubs win in extras; Arrieta’s bid for No. 20 comes up short

Cubs gain ground on Bucs in Wild Card race

The Chicago Cubs won their second straight against the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning 3-2 in 12 innings. Jake Arrieta pitched eight strong innings, but it was a mistake of his own that may have cost him a shot at win No. 20. An Anthony Rizzo sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th helped propel the Cubs to the late win as Hector Rondon pitched two strong innings of relief in getting the win.

With a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth, Arrieta looked to get out of the inning when he fielded a chopper of the bat of Starling Marte. But Arrieta air mailed the soft toss to Rizzo allowing Gregory Polanco to score. Rizzo made a snap throw to second, and combined with a nice catch and tag from Javier Baez the Cubs escaped further trouble.

The win brought the Cubs within three of the Pirates for the top Wild Card spot as they’ll finish their season series tomorrow afternoon at PNC Park.

The Cubs’ Theo Epstein is aware that some of his staff will be targeted by other teams for open positions, but he still believes that the core of the front office will remain intact beyond this season. Jason McLeod has already passed on the chance to interview for several GM positions as it appears the group wants to see this through to the end.

These and other stories you might have missed:

‘Cubs hold on for late win over Pirates’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Epstein sees FO staying together after this season’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Rizzo believes team has the talent’ – ESPN

‘Voting underway for the Roberto Clemente Award’ – MLB.com

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