The Pirates knew what to expect from Arrieta. That didn't make him any easier to hit. And it didn't make it any easier to accept another early October exit.
"It's definitely not fun. You want to win and continue to play on, especially when you've got a special group," third baseman Josh Harrison said, sitting in front of his locker. "But you understand that, you know, it's part of it. You know what? We had a good year."
For all the Bucs overcame and accomplished en route to a 98-win campaign, their season ended in exactly the way they hoped since Oct.