Manaea said that after getting out of the third inning, he sat down in the dugout and told himself, “You’ve really got to focus here if you want to go more than three or four innings”.
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Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta pitches against the Oakland Athletics in the fourth inning at Oakland Coliseum.
Jake Arrieta pitched eight innings of three-hit ball to get his first victory in over a month and the Chicago Cubs beat the Oakland Athletics 4-0 on Saturday. “They just hit everything I threw”. “I might have left a few cutters over the plate just a little too much but other than that I thought my changeup was working pretty good”. But trying to get locked in and be at our best individually down the stretch is the most important thing for us. He’s got some of the best numbers in baseball and he’s had some of the best success over the last couple years. He’s been solid in Triple-A, posting a 3.21 ERA and allowing just three home runs in 103 2/3 innings, but it just has not translated to the major league level so far. “It happens to the best of us so I’ve just got to keep that positive attitude and keep grinding away”. More details were expected to come from manager Bob Melvin in his postgame media briefing.
LHP Jon Lester (12-4) allowed two runs on six hits, struck out eight and walked none over seven innings in a 7-2 victory against Oakland on Friday night. “It’s unbelievable to come here as a home player as opposed to a visitor”.
“The most frustrating thing is that I was mixing my pitches well, and my stuff was very sharp”, Gray said. It’s personally gratifying to me as a fan, because I’ve always believed he could be this good.
The Cubs are 37-17 at home and play their next 10 games at Wrigley Field.
Liam Hendriks took over for Gray to start the sixth and allowed two runs that pushed Chicago’s led to 4-0.
Like a wasted youth that is recaptured later in life and made up for, the Cubs let several chances go by them in the first half of today’s game, only to ultimately push across three runs and complete their tenth sweep of the season. Besides Semien’s homer, the only really hard-hit ball was a line drive hit by Coco Crisp, snagged by Rizzo with this nice leaping grab by Rizzo [VIDEO].
After scoring a run on Omar Narvaez’s RBI single in the seventh to lead 3-2, Adam Eaton led off the eighth with his ninth home run to give closer David Robertson a two-run lead in the ninth.
ROYALS 4, BLUE JAYS 2: At Kansas City, Mo., Danny Duffy outpitched Aaron Sanchez, stopping a 10-game winning streak for the Toronto ace. “You can’t get hot without good pitching and our starters have been fantastic”. Oakland mustered four hits and a base on balls with Yonder Alonso smacking a double.
RHP Joe Nathan was designated for assignment Friday, opening a spot on the Cubs’ 25-man roster for OF Jorge Soler, who was activated from the disabled list. Nathan was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three relief appearances.
Athletics: Jed Lowrie was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a bunion on his left foot. He went on the DL on June 14 with a left pronator strain. RHP Andrew Triggs was called back up from Triple-A Nashville along with Eibner.
So if there’s a negative to be found in the second straight sweep and seventh win in a row, it’s that, but while sitting 11.5 games ahead in the division, looking for negatives looks silly. Dexter Fowler also homered while Javier Baez added a two-run double to help Chicago win its fifth straight.
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Overton has struggled with giving up home runs in his five major league starts, having allowed 11 in 21 1/3 innings on his way to a 10.97 ERA.
