Chicago Cubs, Jake Arrieta no match for Cardinals in 5-1 finale loss

Cubs lose 5-1, fifth loss in six games

Baseball is a game of numbers. It has so many stats to talk about. The Chicago Cubs sent

to the mound, whose numbers against the St. Louis Cardinals had been phenomenal. Numbers are great, but you don’t play the game on paper. The Cards (21-7) proved that by scoring five runs on Arrieta (four earned), as they comfortably took the series from the Cubs (14-13) with a 5-1 victory.

Arrieta (3-3, 3.41) didn’t pitch terribly, but he wasn’t as sharp as he’s been in the past against the Cardinals. The second inning would provide all the Cards would need, as the inning opened on a throwing error by Starlin Castro allowing Mark Reynolds to move to second. A Jason Heyward single would score him, followed by a wild pitch from Arrieta to allow Heyward to move over to second. Yadier Molina moved him to third on a ground out before Peter Bourjos tripled to make it a 2-0 Cardinals lead.

The Cardinals John Lackey (2-1, 3.20) did a little bit of everything in this game. Aside from pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run baseball while striking out 10–he hit a two-run double in the fourth that all but ended the Cubs afternoon as the lead jumped to 4-0.

Justin Grimm made his first appearance since being activated and promptly fell in line with the rest of the middle relief by throwing a wild pitch to allow Heyward to score to make it 5-0 Cards. The Cubs would get an RBI single from Castro in the seventh scoring Jorge Soler, but that was all the scoring the Cubs would muster on the afternoon in a 5-1 loss.

What Stood Out:

The offense went a bit quiet again, as the 2-thru-5 hitters for the Cubs were a combined 2-for-14, with Soler having both hits out of the five hole. After the last three games, it’s not much of a concern. Lackey was simply on his game today, and the Cubs were just outmatched at the plate.

Arrieta’s run against the Cards finally came to an end. He entered today’s finale sporting a 0.74 ERA, but surrendered three runs early before finally settling in. The Cubs are in a bit of a funk, losing two series in a row, and five out of their last six.

What’s Next:

The Cubs will travel to Milwaukee to take on the last place Brewers, who just recently took a series from the Cubs in Chicago. Jason Hammel (2-1, 3.73) will take the mound for the Cubs against the Brewers Jimmy Nelson (1-2, 4.03) at 7:05 pm CT tomorrow night.