No time for a Plan B
When they were eliminated from the division race, Clint Hurdle said the Pirates simply had to go to Plan B in order to reach the World Series. "So what, now what," was the mindset, he said.
The Pirates crafted a controversial Plan A for Wednesday's Wild Card Game. A lineup heavily weighted towards run prevention meant they were committed to carrying an extremely low scoring game into the late innings. If things went according to design, they could either shut the game down with their bullpen, or keep it close enough to effectively deploy their offensive weapons against the Cubs weak flank after Arrieta left.