Jake Arrieta dominant once again as Cubs top Orioles

On Friday afternoon, right-hander Jake Arrieta probably left the Baltimore Orioles’ front office with more than a few regrets as he led the Chicago Cubs to a 4-1 win over his former club at Wrigley Field.

Arrieta (7-4, 2.53 ERA) allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work, striking out five and walking one. The lone run came via a Nelson Cruz home run in the seventh – the only blemish on the righty’s final line.

Chicago (56-72) opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth against O’s starter Kevin Gausman (7-5, 3.81 ERA) when Luis Valbuena continued his recent hot streak, clubbing a solo blast to right. The recently promoted Logan Watkins followed later in the inning with an RBI single to center field that scored Ryan Sweeney from second with two outs in the frame.

The Cubs added another insurance run in the fifth when Javier Baez took a 3-2 pitch from Gausman and deposited it onto Waveland Avenue for his sixth home run of the year. He now has 10 RBIs for Chicago since his call-up; however, even with the homer, the Cubs’ #2 overall prospect is now hitting just .216 on the season.

Arismendy Alcantara added an insurance run in the seventh with Chicago leading 3-1 with an RBI single. Hector Rondon closed things out in the ninth for his 20th save of the season.

Baltimore (73-53) managed just five hits in the contest – with no single player tallying more than one base knock.