Cubs’ Jake Arrieta is calm ahead of playoff start against Cardinals

CHICAGO —  Wearing a sleeveless T-shirt with “WE ARE GOOD” in big block lettering across the front, Jake Arrieta looked at ease while he made himself a sandwich and mingled with the rest of his teammates Sunday morning.

The bearded ace of the Chicago Cubs was one cool customer heading into Monday night’s Game 3 of a deadlocked National League division series. He also was the biggest challenge for the St. Louis Cardinals, who insist they will be ready for the first playoff game at Wrigley Field in seven years.

“We’ve gone up against a number of teams and a number of pitchers where everybody kind of ruled us out and said you can’t do this or that, and I think this team has responded well in the past,” Manager Mike Matheny said.

The past includes two victories against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in last year’s playoffs, and a long history of postseason success. It also includes a victory over Arrieta in May, but that was long before he went on a dominant run.

Dating to a four-hit shutout against Minnesota on June 21, Arrieta is 17-1 with a 0.81 earned-run average in his last 21 starts. The stretch includes a no-hitter against the NL West champion Dodgers, and a five-hit shutout at Pittsburgh in the wild-card game Wednesday.

“I’ve been through a lot in my career, and the failure that I’ve gone through makes me really appreciate the moments of success much more,” said Arrieta, who was traded from Baltimore to Chicago in July 2013.

“I’ve had some pretty dark times in this game in my career. You know, but I was dedicated to getting over the hump, to putting in the time, the effort, making any adjustments necessary to get to this point.”

Arrieta’s fastball gets into the mid-90s mph, but his best pitch is a slider he can throw like a cut fastball and often induces weak swings. He had 236 strikeouts in 229 innings this year.

Teammates marvel at the right-hander’s consistency.

“Even what he’s doing now, he still knows he can be better,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “I don’t even know how that’s possible.”

Last year, the Cardinals had a tough challenge by facing Kershaw, who had been selected the league’s most valuable player and had won his third Cy Young Award. They beat the left-hander twice in the playoffs. Now they are aiming to knock off Arrieta too.

“It’s pretty similar to the same scenario we were in last year,” said third baseman Matt Carpenter, who played with Arrieta at Texas Christian University and included the pitcher in his wedding. “Kershaw was having a season for the ages. Nobody thought we could beat him. We found a way to scratch and claw our way to victory. We’ll see if we can do it with Jake.”

A return to form for Michael Wacha would be a big help against Arrieta, who hasn’t lost at home since July 25. Wacha, the MVP of the 2013 NL Championship Series as a rookie, led St. Louis with 17 victories this year but had a 7.88 ERA in five September starts.

The last time Wacha pitched in the playoffs, he served up a game-ending home run to Travis Ishikawa in Game 5 of the 2014 NLCS at San Francisco.

“Just excited for this opportunity this year, being a part of this amazing team and looking forward to seeing what we can do in this postseason,” Wacha said.

St. Louis beat Chicago, 4-0, in Game 1 behind a strong start for John Lackey. But the Cubs won Game 2, 6-3, on Saturday to tie the best-of-five series.

The Cardinals had announced that Lance Lynn would start Game 4 on Tuesday, but Matheny said they are considering all options.

Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said he wasn’t ready to announce his Game 4 starter, either.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” Maddon said. “I don’t think any of us do. I hope not. The other teams are really good. The team we’re playing tomorrow is very good. So you can’t assume anything.”