Already-in Pirates sense a gift about almost-in Cubs

," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said on the Cubs. "There’s without doubt it’s essentially the most competitive team that I’ve seen from their website in a while.

CHICAGO -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have previously made it to the postseason after clinching a wild-card spot in Colorado, and they’re riding a six-game winning streak. But they’ve arrived at Chicago to manage a Cubs team this is a game from doing likewise -- against their likely opponent from the one-game play-in game that your wild-card invite gets you after 162 games.

Which adds some obvious drama in what’s already becoming an additional charged-up NL Central rivalry within the division that boasts three from the four best records in baseball, but one containing created what about a different tenor between the two of these teams than, say, Cubs vs. Cardinals. They’ll have played 19 head-to-head regular-season games following this weekend’s series; the Pirates and Cubs will tend to be playing an elimination game of their 20th. It’s an extraordinary turn of events for two main teams long linked to losing, something the Pirates changed in 2013 by ending their 20-year losing streak having a return to the postseason. The Cubs' frustrations stretch back greater than a century.

“You’d ought to be blind to never see it,” manager Clint Hurdle said regarding the energy in Chicago surrounding this Cubs team. “They’re a fantastic team, there’s little doubt it’s one of the most competitive team that I’ve seen at their store in a long time. I went back inside day once they actually had good teams too -- it is an exciting team.”

“I think it had been a work beginning the years before, if the new front office came over, which had direction, which had purpose,” Hurdle added. “Everybody has direction and purpose, however it plays out. Nobody ever can be seen on a new position and says, ‘You really know what, i want to wake up and pay attention to how I can screw things up.’ They use a very fertile and firm base to their team, who have skills. They’ve designed a pitching staff which includes experience and went about a couple of ways.”

Of course, there’s another method to obtain potential rivalry involving the two of these teams, which is between Hurdle and the man within the other dugout -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon. Both are leading candidates in what’s guaranteed to be essentially the most interesting NL Manager in the Year vote in years. Hurdle’s Pirates hold the second-best record in baseball plus a 3.5-game bring success the Cubs, but both teams have exceptional records relative on their expected wins. The Pirates are five games a lot better than their runs scored and allowed indicate, even though the Cubs are six games better. And both teams have outstanding records in one-run games; while many might call that luck, furthermore, it suggests both teams have reaped the advantage of good managers getting results off their in-game gambits.

But if there’s said to be an element of competition between your two men inside the dugouts that surpasses what you see inside the standings, Hurdle wasn’t sharing.

“You know you should be prepared [managing against Maddon],” Hurdle blandly noted. “I such as fact that he’s engaging, I believe he cares, he’s had success, and then for all the right reasons, but away from that, that’s a subject I don’t have a seat and think a whole lot about.

“The another thing I don’t put a whole lot of stock is me managing contrary to the manager,” Hurdle said. “I think a good deal of other folks make a great deal out of that, but I don’t think it plays out the way people like it to. I need to are aware of the personnel they have. I need to really know what their players’ skill sets are. I need to determine what ours are, their tendencies, if they hit-and-run, steal, will they like to safety squeeze, everything kind of information, not manager-against-manager a great deal. I think that gets

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