The Chicago Cubs lost four in a row heading into Sunday night after riding an impressive win streak to establish their supremacy in the NL wild-card race. Jake Arrieta was sent to the mound to help the Cubs avoid getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Arrieta is perhaps the hottest pitcher in the MLB and he proved it last night. The right-hander threw a no-hitter and struck out 12 Dodgers in the team's 2-0 victory. It was the first no-hitter for Chicago since Carlos Zambrano shut down the Houston Astros back on Sept. 14, 2008, which was the franchise's first no-hitter since 1972.
Since late June there is no question Arrieta has been one of the best pitchers in the MLB. He's 11-1 with a 1.07 ERA in those last 14 starts, including an unbelievable month of August (6-0 with a 0.43 ERA in six starts). He now has an outside shot to win the NL Cy Young Award after compiling a 17-6 record with a 2.11 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 190 strikeouts in 27 starts (183 innings) this season.
Chicago amassed 13 hits against Dodgers' starter Alex Wood, but scored only two runs - both of which came off of a Kris Bryant home run in the top of the first inning. Arrieta walked just one batter (shortstop Jimmy Rollins) while second baseman Starlin Castro made an error early on to break up the perfect game.
Arrieta struck out the side (Justin Turner, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley) in the bottom of the ninth to seal the career milestone.
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As for the Dodgers, they set some longstanding MLB records with their inability to hit. Earlier this month Houston Astros' starter Mike Fiers tossed a no-hitter against Los Angeles during a series in which the Dodgers were swept. Then came Arrieta's no-hitter last night.
"That makes them the first team to be no-hit twice in the same month since the 1971 Cincinnati Reds, and it makes them the first team in 92 years to be no-hit twice in that short a span," Anthony Witrado of ESPN writes.
Los Angeles has been one of the worst offensive teams in the MLB this month, scoring just 99 runs in 26 games, which is good for 27th in the league. However, they still lead the San Francisco Giants by 3.5 games in the NL West division while the Cubs sit 5.5 games over the Giants for the second NL wild-card spot.
The Dodgers will host the Giants for a three-game series beginning on Monday night and the Cubs will travel back to Chicago to face the Cincinnati Reds.
