2015 National League Wild Card Game
The 2015 National League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 postseason played between the National League's (NL) two wild card teams, the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. In MLB, the two teams with the best record in each league who do not win a division play against each other in the Wild Card Game.[1]
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 7, 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | PNC Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | John Hirshbeck (crew chief), Cory Blaser, Mike Estabrook, Jeff Nelson, Jim Reynolds, Hunter Wendelstedt, Dan Iassogna (replay), Mark Wegner (replay) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 40,889 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | TBS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Ernie Johnson Jr., Ron Darling, Cal Ripken Jr., and Matt Winer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The game was held at Pittsburgh's PNC Park on October 7, 2015. This was the third consecutive year that the NL Wild Card Game was played in Pittsburgh.[2] This was the third consecutive postseason appearance for the Pirates, all of which came as a wild card qualifier, while the Cubs made the postseason for the first time since 2008.[3] This was the first postseason meeting between the Cubs and the Pirates.
The Pirates and Cubs had finished with the second and third-best records in all of baseball during the 2015 season, with 98 and 97 wins respectively. However, since they were in the same division as the 100-win St. Louis Cardinals, they were slotted into the wild card game.
The Cubs won the game 4–0, and advanced to play the Cardinals in the NL Division Series.
Box score & recap
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Jake Arrieta (1–0) LP: Gerrit Cole (0–1) Home runs: CHC: Kyle Schwarber (1), Dexter Fowler (1) PIT: None Attendance: 40,889 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- Muskat, Carrie (September 30, 2015). "Cubs to meet Pirates in NL Wild Card Game". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- Newman, Mark (September 24, 2015). "2015 Postseason Schedule". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- Ortiz, Jorge (October 7, 2015). "NL wild card capsule: Cubs vs. Pirates". USA Today. Pittsburgh: Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. Retrieved October 7, 2015.