Maddon says Arrieta's pitch count was 'infinity'

Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta entered the wild-card game having completed the greatest regular season of his career. He continued to roll Wednesday with one of the best pitched playoff games in baseball history.

Arrieta saved his very best effort for his team's most important game of the year, becoming the first pitcher in postseason history to throw a shutout with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks in Chicago's 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.

The Cy Young contender was heckled, jeered, and thrown at in front of the biggest crowd ever at PNC Park, but the confident pitcher toyed with Pirates batters all night in his first career playoff start. When it was all said and done, Arrieta wrapped up his historic performance with 11 strikeouts, four hits, and 77 strikes on 113 pitches.

''I'm exhausted. I haven't felt this way all year,'' said Arrieta, who won a major-league leading 22 games. ''This atmosphere, the energy was unbelievable. Tried to use it to the best of my ability. They were loud, they were really loud.''

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

The hostile environment in Pittsburgh never seemed to rattle Arrieta, who even found himself in the middle of a benches-clearing brawl during the seventh inning. Once again, Arrieta kept his composure, stealing a base after getting plunked and retiring the side in the ninth to complete his dominant effort.

Not that he had any choice.

When asked what Arrieta's pitch count was in the winner-take-all game, manager Joe Maddon delivered the line of the night: "It was infinity."

Arrieta, who has allowed just two earned runs over his last 76 innings, became the first Cubs pitcher to throw a postseason shutout since 1945 and tied a franchise record for strikeouts in a playoff game.

"(He's) just a different cat," Maddon said of Arrieta's confidence. "I could just think of Namath guaranteeing the Super Bowl victory, all I could think of last few days."