Cubs Sweep Giants, Pirates Sweep Dodgers in Big Weekend for N.L Central

When the 2015 baseball season began, few considered the possibility of three National League Central teams making the post season, but after the games of August 9th, there may be some more believers. The St. Louis Cardinals, the leaders in the division took two of three from the Milwaukee Brewers and improved to 71-40, which is the best record in the majors. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates went up against the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, the top teams in the N.L West, and the teams from the Central were dominating.

The Cubs hosted a four game set with the Giants, and swept all four games. The last time Chicago swept a four game series from San Francisco was back in June of 1977. Starter Jake Arrieta allowed just four hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings in the series finale, which the Cubs won 2-0. Arrieta contributed to the cause by hitting a triple and scoring a run. Arrieta is having an excellent season and is now 13-6 with a 2.38 ERA.

In Pittsburgh, the Pirates swept a three game set with the Dodgers, the first time they’ve done that in Pittsburgh since 1999 (of course, the Pirates were horrible for 20 years before improving recently). Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the seventh inning of Sunday’s series finale to send the Dodgers home reeling. Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutcheon started out the season slowly, as did the Pirates, but both have heated up nicely.

The Pirates (65-44) are in the lead for the first N.L Wild Card playoff team, and the surprising Cubs (62-48) are in the lead for the second Wild Card.