Ron Cook: Gerrit Cole’s attitude, ability can carry Pirates a long way

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole had a curious reaction eventually to repeated mentions of Jake Arrieta’s name Wednesday. It was encouraging, actually.tmpplchld “I’m picking us to win it all,” Cole said.tmpplchld Not the wild-card game against Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs Wednesday night.tmpplchld Not the National League pennant.tmpplchld The World Series.tmpplchld Arrieta, be damned.tmpplchld I love the kid’s attitude.tmpplchld I like the Pirates’ chances, as well. Many around town appear convinced the team has little chance against the great Arrieta, the doomsayers going so far as to predict a one-and-done exit from the playoffs and a sour end to this fabulous season. I’m not going there for six reasons. tmpplchld One, obviously, is Cole, who will pitch the wild-card game. Two, the game will be most likely be at PNC Park, which can be difficult at playoff time for opposing pitchers. Ask Johnny Cueto. Three, Cole has been there and done it in the postseason, going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 playoffs. Four, Arrieta has never pitched in the postseason. There is nothing like that pressure. Five, Arrieta has pitched 223 innings, up from 156 2/3 last season. And we’re worried about Cole’s innings count? Six, Arrieta is due for a human-like outing after a string of 19 mostly terrific performances.tmpplchld But, mostly, I like the Pirates because of Cole.tmpplchld “A must-win pitcher,” manager Clint Hurdle called him Wednesday.tmpplchld This was before Cole, with the Pirates facing elimination in the National League Central race, allowed two runs and seven hits with no walks in an 8-2 win against the Cardinals. In his past five starts, beginning with one Sept. 6 at St. Louis, he has gone 4-0 with a 2.36 ERA. Two of his strong performances and one of the wins came against the Cubs. Two of the wins came against the Cardinals, the Pirates’ opponent in the NLDS should they beat the Cubs next week. The other win came against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.tmpplchld “He’s pulled it off in very excellent fashion,” Hurdle said of that grind.tmpplchld No one in the clubhouse or front office is surprised.tmpplchld “He’s just plain driven to be elite,” general manager Neal Huntington said of Cole. “He wants the weight of the game on his shoulders. He wants the ball in his hands in big situations.”tmpplchld Cole will get his wish when the Pirates play their first playoff game next week.tmpplchld “It’s Arrieta this and Arrieta that,” pitching coach Ray Searage said. “Everybody says (he’s) a 21-game winner. Well, tell you what, we’ve got a 19-game winner that could be a 20-game winner if some things turned the other way for him. He’s pretty good, too. He loves to compete. There’s no fear of failure.”tmpplchld That doesn’t mean failure doesn’t drive Cole crazy. He still is haunted by the pitch he hung to the Cardinals’ David Freese in the decisive Game 5 of the 2013 NLDS. Freese hit it for a two-run home run in the second inning of what became a 6-1 Cardinals win. “I hate that curveball to Freese,” Cole said Wednesday. “It was bad. Real bad. So bad I didn’t think he was going to get it. But he went up to the letters and crushed it. That outing came down to one pitch.”tmpplchld Cole was nearly as angry Wednesday after giving up a fourth-inning run. The Cardinals would have done more damage if Pirates right fielder Gregory Polanco didn’t throw out Matt Holliday at the plate. Cole returned to the dugout when the inning ended and described his effort as “pitiful,” according to Searage. Cole later said he “didn’t have very much to work with” during the game. He didn’t have his usual something-extra on his fastball, although the last of his 100 pitches was a 97 mph fastball that struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Moss. He won this game by pitching, not just throwing.tmpplchld “He was (ticked) after he gave up that run,” Searage said. “I was like, ‘Dude, you’ve got five more innings. Chill.’ But that’s who he is. That’s why I enjoy him. You don’t want to put that in a can and let it out every now and then. Let him learn as he goes. If you try to hold him back, he’s going to buck like a bronco. Let him be him.”tmpplchld The results have been wonderful for Cole doing it his way. Since he made it to the big leagues in June 2013, he is 40-20. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner are the only NL pitchers to win more games in that time. Cole, still just 25, has been especially terrific in September with a 12-2 record and 2.95 ERA in 17 career starts.tmpplchld Now, the Pirates can’t wait to see how Cole pitches in October.tmpplchld “He truly wants to be the guy,” an appreciative Hurdle said.tmpplchld I’m not the only one who loves the kid’s attitude.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld ABOUT THE WRITERtmpplchld Ron Cook is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Pittsburgh Post-Gazettetmpplchld Visit Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld