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Cubs: Jake Arrieta ready for do-or-die format of one-game playoff

Don't be surprised if Jake Arrieta comes out throwing a knuckleball Sunday.

Arrieta's start against the Pirates comes 10 days before he figures to square off with this team again in the one-game wild-card playoff.

So the Cubs ace was joking he might try to mix things up with a knuckleball or a new changeup or wacky sequence of pitches or something.

"It's a chess match, really," Arrieta said. "They've seen what I throw. They know what I throw. But the sequences are things that I constantly change and switch up."

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Arrieta probably won't actually throw a knuckleball, but with the Cubs locking up a playoff spot and sitting 5.