The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Wednesday’s game four games out of first in the NL Central and three games behind the Cubs. They would exit the game closing both of those gaps. Pirates pitcher Chris Archer stepped onto the mound carrying a 5.50 ERA while the opposing Yu Darvish carried a 4.98. By looking at those statistics alone, most would think a slug fest would be the outcome, however, the game ended up featuring balanced offense and pitching.
Archer would start the game off pitching for the home crowd and would immediately strike out the first two batters he faced while inducing a ground out from the number three batter Anthony Rizzo.