Chicago Cubs Recap: Jake Arrieta throws second career no-hitter in Cincinnati

Following their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Jake Arrieta, and the Chicago Cubs traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Reds. While the North Siders hammered multiple home runs, their ace right-hander was working on making history, again.

For the second time in his major league career, Jake Arrieta has thrown a no-hitter. His first ever no-no came on Sunday, August 30 on ESPN while the Chicago Cubs were visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers. The catcher behind the plate then was Miguel Montero.

This time around, David Ross had the opportunity to do so for the first time in his career. Chicago got things going early in the first when Dexter Fowler turned on the first pitch of the ballgame and sent it out center field for his sixth double of the season. Fowler ended the evening 2-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI to keep his batting average a tad under .400.

Third baseman Kris Bryant had himself a great day in the batter’s box, launching a two-run homer to the upper deck out in left field, giving Arrieta a quick two-run lead in the first. Reds (8-8) southpaw Brandon Finnegan (1-1, 3.74 ERA), who took a no-hitter into the seventh while visiting the Cubs (12-4) at Wrigley, was tagged for five earned runs tonight.

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After giving up a leadoff double in the first, second baseman Ben Zobrist swatted his first home run as a member of the Chicago Cubs to right field, making it a three-run ballgame. Fowler was later credited with an RBI on a ground out that allowed Ross to cross home plate for their fourth run in two innings.

We’ll fast forward to the top of the sixth inning where Grandpa Ross flexed a little bit of muscle by recording his first home run of the young campaign. This was the first of four runs that the Cubs would drive in that inning.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo decided to join in on the hit parade just a few batter’s later, uppercutting a three-run homer to right field. It was his fifth big fly of the season and team-best 16 RBI which made it 9-0 in favor of the visiting team.

And then you have Bryant. Bryant homered in the very first inning of the ballgame and came up to the dish with an opportunity to make things worse for the Reds. That’s exactly what he did with rookie Drew Hayes dealing on the mound.

Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year crushed a fourth pitch cutter, sending it out to straight away center field and over the head of Scott Schebler for a grand slam, extending Chicago’s lead to 13-0 in the seventh inning.

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Villanova Alumni. Matt Szczur entered the game to replace Jorge Soler out in left field and came through with an RBI knock in his only at-bat of the contest. He would later advance to third on a two-run double off the bat of Zobrist. Arrieta’s next start will come at home against the Milwaukee Brewers where he’s worked 48 2/3 scoreless innings.

Tonight’s historical outing extended Arrieta’s quality start streak to 24 dating back to last season. He currently holds a 20-1 record with an ERA of 0.86, 0.70 WHIP and 173/33 K/BB ratio in those 24 games.