Arrieta is among several pitchers in the past decade to pitch two no-hitters. He walked four and struck out two. 144 against him in four starts. Only five pitchers have ever thrown more than two no-hitters: Cy Young (3), Bob Feller (3), Larry Corcoran (3), Sandy Koufax (4) and Nolan Ryan (7).
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Arrieta is the first pitcher from the Cubs to win his opening four starts of the season since 2006, when Greg Maddux was 5-0. “Everybody keeps asking, ‘What do you mean you are retiring?’ Trust me, it takes a lot to get this body going”. “He was probably off for the first four or five innings”.
Winding up to throw his 119th pitch of the night, Arrieta popped up the Reds batter to right field to end the game. At that point, the Reds were in real trouble. The Mets have had an encouraging start from veteran third baseman David Wright, who has battled health problems in recent seasons, and also haven’t had much contribution from star right-handers Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey.
Jake Arrieta’s stretch of dominance over the past two seasons is remarkable. He needed something for his scrapbook.
“When you are in the middle of the game, you are just trying to manage the game to win”, Ross explained.
John Lackey has received plenty of run support while getting off to the best start of his career. Reds relievers had thrown the most innings in the NL (58 2/3) and allowed the most homers (15) and walks (36).
“How about that? All my good offense got overshadowed by a no-hitter”, Ross said.
Peralta was hit again by Osich on Thursday afternoon in the eighth inning, another fastball that went too far inside. He’s making it seem that way.
“What can I say – he was spectacular”, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, via Carrie Muskat and Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. It’s about how you respond to it. I was able to get my mind in the right spot and get things on track.
It sounds like a cliché, but that preparation is what Arrieta relies on. So it can’t come as a surprise to learn they lead all of baseball with a 2.13 ERA after Lester’s one-run performance on Friday.
“Amazing”, Ross said. “One of my dreams. He’s not shocked when he does stuff like that, and rightfully so”.
The debut by Hayes is one footnote to Arrieta’s gem.
Whatever happens next between Arrieta and the Cubs’ front office, his relationship to this team’s efforts are as aligned with the urgency of now as everything else going on with a team that is already off to the best start in the majors. Been there, done that was his attitude, as Arrieta has come so close so many times, including, of course, his masterpiece in L.A. when he broke through. “So me, personally, I stopped thinking about it and treat it like every other game”.
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Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. If anyone doubted it before Thursday, Arrieta continued to prove he’s the most indispensable player on the Cubs’ roster as they chase their October expectations. It was Baez’s first homer after beginning the season on the disabled list with a thumb injury. For the Cubs, it was their first series of the season at Wrigley Field. No one else threw more than two no-hitters until Bob Feller.
