After Friday's loss, the Cubs were down 1-0 in the NLDS. Did they let that get them down? Of course not! Saturday's Game 2 saw the ball handed to Kyle Hendricks, who closed out the regular season on a tear, at one point hurling 12 scoreless innings between 2 starts. Things didn't start out too good, as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Then the Cubs made their presence known in the top of the 2nd with an offensive explosion that featured two squeeze bunts which made Maddon look like some sort of mad genius, and continued with a 2 run homer by Jorge Soler that brought the boys home and capped off a 5-run inning(incidentally, Soler replaced the Schwarbino in the lineup. Good call.) Eventually, the Cardinals managed to hit 2 over the fence, which ended Hendricks' night. Our periodically quixotic bullpen actually held together quite well after that, with Travis Wood throwing 2 1/3 innings and Hector Rondon holding on to save a 6-3 Cubs win.
Where does that leave us now? In a damn good place, that's where. We're tied at 1 game a piece. We're back at Wrigley for the next two games. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant(whom I will be henceforth referring to as The Bash Brothers 2.0) haven't even gotten a chance to make an offensive contribution yet this postseason. Oh, and JAKE ARRIETA is pitching tonight. You know, the guy who hasn't lost a game since July 25. The guy who has given up a TOTAL of 4 runs since the beginning of August. The guy who tossed the first postseason shutout for the Cubs in 70 years in Pittsburgh. Putting it succinctly, the Cardinals are in for a world of hurt tonight, and Arrieta is just the man to deal it out.
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