Bryant grounded into a double play in the next at bat and then those Pirate nerves showed up again with Rizzo hitting. The Pirates had the proper shift to get Rizzo at first, but third baseman Josh Harrison making the play in shallow right field threw the ball in the dirt making Edwin Rodriguez field the ball on a short hop. 

Rizzo respected 90 and was called safe at first after Rodriguez was hit by the ball instead of fielding it. LaStella was called out on strikes in the next at bat, but the Pirates had their confidence shaken early. 

Jake Arrieta took the mound with confidence. He struck out Polanco for the first out and then Harrison grounded out to Castro on a weakly hit ground ball to second. 

The only Pirate to not look shaky early on in the game was Andrew McCutcheon. McCutcheon ripped a single up the middle and into center field for the first hit of the night. Arrieta handled the next batter, Marte, with a K and the Cubs were out of the first with the one run lead. 

Cole handled the second half of the order in three straight, but then Arrieta did the same in his chance. At the top of the third, the Fowl One and the Schwarbear returned to the plate to explosive results. 

Arrieta led off the inning in the ninth spot in the lineup with a strikeout. Then Fowler channeled his Britney Spears and Oops, he did it again with another single out to Polanco in right field. Then, just like in the first inning, the Schwarbear brought Fowler home only this time, he joined him at the plate. 

Kyle Schwarber will be a folk hero on the North Side for years to come because of the enormous homer he hit in the third inning of this Wild Card game. On a 2-1 count, Cole sent a 88 mph slider over the plate and the Hulk exploded on the ball. The ball launched into the night, over the bleachers, out of the stadium, and into the Allegheny River. Schwarber 3-Pirates 0.

With a 3-0 lead, Arrieta began to steamroll the Pirates lineup. In the third inning he struck out the side. In the fourth inning, the Bucs went down in three again. The Cubs got a hit in the fourth, but did not score again until the fifth inning. 

Arrieta led off the inning with a strikeout and then The Fowl One got fair in a big way. The Cubs center fielder was already 2-2 on the night and had scored twice. Cole grooved him a 2-2 fastball right over the plate and Fowler blasted it into the bleachers in right field. Dexter scored the first run of the game and he scored the last run. Cubs 4-Pirates 0. 

In the fifth inning, for maybe the first time in the last three months, cracks started to show in Arrieta just a bit. Jake threw a sinker that did everything but sink. It flew up high and tight on Cervelli who dropped to his back.

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Just as he was falling, the ball glanced off of Cervelli's fingers and earned him a free pass to first base. With Cervelli at first, Arrieta pulled it together and got a flyout, strikeout, strikeout from the next three batters to get out of the inning. 

Antonio Bastardo (real name, not a joke) entered in the sixth to end Gerrit Cole's season. He worked a 1-2-3 inning to send it to the top of the sixth and the Pirates best chance of the night. 

As the Cubs took the field, Joe Maddon moved Kris Bryant in to third base, put Action Jackson in left field because even in the biggest game of the year, it's a Mad, Mad, Maddon World. Arrieta was still pitching and the cracks we saw in the fifth returned in the sixth as well. 

Arrieta gave up a lead off single to Rob Snider. The Cubs infielders were playing in on the corners to defend for a bunt from Polanco, but Gregory had a different idea. He hit a hard liner that was ticketed for left field except Bryant was not playing left field anymore. 

When you have a magic show like this Cubs team, sometimes it is fun to bring in a juggler. The ball flipped out of Bryant's glove, over his head, and behind him, but the RoY spun and got the out anyway. 

Everyone was excited, but that excitement was short lived in the sixth. Arrieta lost control of another ball that went high and tight to Harrison at the plate. Harrison allowed the ball to hit him as he spun out of the way and the Bucs had two runners on for the first time in the game with McCutcheon due up. 

Cutch is clutch and the Pirates center fielder shot one to the left of Russell at shortstop. Russell was unable to get a handle on the ball and was given an error for his efforts. He did knock the ball down so Snider was forced to hold at third, but the Pirates had one out and bases loaded. 

The Pittsburgh crowd got loud. Ear splittingly loud. Arrieta said after the game that it was getting to him a bit. Even so, he made the pitch he needed to make and Starling Marte hit a sharp ball to Russell who started the double play to Castro and Rizzo to escape the inning with no runs. 

In the seventh, there was drama. The Pirates were pretty much out of the game at this point and with two outs in the inning, Tony Watson intentionally threw the ball at Jake Arrieta, hitting him in the belt/butt area. Arrieta was pissed and next thing you know, we had the first bench clearing of the Cubs season. 

There was a lot of pushing and shoving, but the only real punches seen were hilarious. Rodriguez took umbrage with the Gatorade cooler in the dugout and started to box the cooler into submission and then was ejected from the game. 

Arrieta took his place at first base after the melee broke up and stole second base just to rub it in the Pirates' faces a little bit more that they could not touch him. 

In the seventh inning, Cervelli singled and then Neil Walker struck out. In a fitting tribute to his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, Aramis Ramirez hit it sharply at third base where Bryant fielded the ball and started the double play. Although the ball had to get all the way around the horn, it beat Ramirez to the base by about 89 feet. 

Pittsburgh fans started to make their way to the gates as Arrieta's cracks had been sealed by the adrenaline of being hit by a pitch. He worked his way through the 8th and 9th innings with no issue. The final play of the game fittingly ended in the glove of Starlin Castro to send the Cubs into the playoffs for the first time in the Original Youngster's career. 

Cubs finally reach the playoffs and now they get a ticket to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals on Friday and Saturday. That's the Reckless Recap. Go Cubs!