Gerrit Cole to start for Pirates in wild-card game against Cubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Saturday that ace Gerrit Cole will start Wednesday’s wild-card game against the Chicago Cubs.

Cole is third in the National League with 19 victories. The right-hander was 2-1 with a 2.13 earned-run average in four starts against the Cubs during the regular season.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in two playoff starts for the Pirates during a National League division series against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013.

Matt Williams hasn’t heard about future with Nationals

With speculation swirling that he’ll soon be out of a job, Manager Matt Williams said he hasn’t talked to the Washington Nationals’ management about his status for 2016.

“Nobody’s spoken to me about anything,” he said. “Frankly, it’s not a concern of mine.”

The Nationals, considered among the favorites to win the World Series, are 82-78 after winning the first game of a doubleheader with the Mets and eliminated from playoff contention.

Washington led the NL East before a second-half slide that included a recent dugout fight between outfielder Bryce Harper and closer Jonathan Papelbon.