Jake Arrieta going for his 15th consecutive quality start vs D’backs

Yesterday’s huge 14-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks was fun, but today could be even better when ace right-hander Jake Arrieta takes the mound following his no-hit performance in Los Angeles this past Sunday against the Dodgers.

Arrieta (17-6, 2.11 ERA) earned himself N.L. Pitcher of the Month honors as he finished August with a perfect 6-0 record with a 0.43 ERA. It was his first career no-no and the 14th in franchise history. No. 14 appears to be his lucky number as he also tied Greg Maddux with 14 consecutive quality starts.

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Hopefully, he’ll earn the same run support that southpaw Jon Lester did last night that featured four huge home runs. Infielder Addison Russell drilled two homers in the contest, one being a solo shot and the second a two-run big fly to left field which extended Chicago’s (76-57) lead at the time to 6-1.

The returning Javier Baez finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a walk and a two-run shot of his own that came during the eight-run fifth inning. First baseman Anthony Rizzo broke things wide open with his second career grand slam to right field, putting his club up by the score of 12-2 before Baez went yard himself.

Joe Maddon‘s club scored all 14 runs during the first five innings as it would be enough to keep the D’backs at bay. They re-padded their N.L. Wild Card lead over the San Francisco Giants who are on a six-game losing streak up to 7.5 games.

Taking the mound opposite Arrieta will be 23-year-old southpaw, Robbie Ray. Ray (3-10, 3.72 ERA) is currently 0-5 in his previous seven games with the Diamondbacks (65-70) with 22 earned runs on 41 hits and a 37/20 K/BB ratio across 37 innings of work.

This young pitcher will definitely have his hands full with this club who are second in the league behind the Toronto Blue Jays in walks with 460 on the year. One problem, however, is the total of strikeouts which is 1,238 that leads the entire league itself.

First pitch is slated for 1:20 p.m. central time and will air live on CSN, WBBM 780 A.M.

Here’s a look at today’s starting lineup’s for both clubs:

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