Taking the mound after Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter and a one-sided win, Lester attempts to continue Chicago’s recent dominance of the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night at Great American Ball Park. “I envisioned pitching like this, even when I had a (5.46 ERA) in Baltimore”, Arrieta said.
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“Once I got to the eighth, that was the idea: Try to be good on the edges and not make any mistakes”, he said.
The Cubs added three more runs in the ninth against Blake Wood, and Arrieta finished a 16-0 no-hitter in the bottom of the inning.
Maybe it’s because Arrieta admittedly had less than his best stuff on Thursday, or maybe because the opponent was less than marquee.
“This is why he won the Cy Young past year”, Cubs catcher David Ross said, via Muskat and Sheldon of MLB.com.
The Cubs led 5-0 after three innings, more than enough support for Arrieta, who hasn’t allowed more than five runs in a game since August 2014. Manager Joe Maddon let Arrieta keep pitching, though, telling reporters after the game, “You never want to interfere with somebody’s greatness”.
“(Arrieta) overshadowed all my offense, kind of mad at him”, said Ross, laughing. The Braves got to the three-time Cy Young victor for 10 hits in eight innings, only the fourth time in 246 career starts that he’s given up double figures. “He’s got the capability of doing that every night”. He threw 119 pitches, retiring Eugenio Suarez on a flyball to right field to end it. In that time, he has made 14 starts without allowing a run (including five complete-game shutouts), has notched a quality start in his last 24 outings and has lost just once, that coming last July 25. Instead, Arrieta is the anchor on the Cubs rotation looking to break a hundred year World Series curse while the Orioles are still in search of an ace, like the one they drafted in 2007. He didn’t have to second-guess himself.Arrieta allowed just five balls to be hit out of the infield. According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Cubs are heavily favored on the road in this game, as they are getting odds of -185 to win, while the Reds have a money line of +170 to win.
Reds: CF Billy Hamilton was out of the lineup with a sore left thumb, injured when he hit his glove while trying for a catch in St. Louis last weekend.
As for the Cubs’ batters, they were in fine form on Thursday as they beat the Reds 16-0.
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MARINERS 10, INDIANS 7 (10) Robinson Cano hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning off Cody Allen, lifting visiting Seattle over Cleveland.
