Pirates' Cole embracing clash with Arrieta

Gerrit Cole understands the size of the hill his teammates will need to climb against Jake Arrieta in the National League wild-card game on Wednesday, and he's prepared to put his best foot forward against his pitching counterpart in the crucial contest.

"I feel like when you're in these situations you want to face the best," Cole said Tuesday in Pittsburgh. "You want to get the best measure and best temperature of the other team because you really want to earn these wins. You work so hard to put yourself in position to have these opportunities, and it doesn't feel any better than going up against the best."

Cole, like Arrieta, has had the best season of his career and respects the competitor that the Chicago Cubs right-hander is and believes he'll need to match the Cy Young candidate with not only his ability, but his endurance.

"I think you can sit here and say he's probably going to go pretty deep and he's probably going to go pretty low. So you're probably going to have to go pretty deep and you're probably going to have to go pretty low, too. So you know what you're going to get."

Cole has been successful against the Cubs this season, owning a 2-1 record in four starts, with a 2.13 ERA, and striking out 32 hitters.

Overall, he owns a 19-8 record with a 2.60 ERA across 32 regular-season starts.