Chicago Cubs News: Baez, Cubs get Arrieta off the hook with walk-off win

After going a week straight without losing a game, the Chicago Cubs will welcome in the National League West’s own San Diego Padres for a three-game set. Yesterday afternoon, ace right-hander Jake Arrieta was in danger of dropping his first game of the season.

To be honest, it wasn’t all that much of a surprise. You can’t expect a man who has dominated all of 2015 and the first month of the new season to continue recording outs left and right. Sometimes, a pitch and his team will come along and make life difficult, proving that you are, in fact, human after all.

Despite outfielder Bryce Harper going without a hit, the Washington Nationals were getting the best of Jake Arrieta before he was removed from the game. They got to the reigning National League Cy Young winner for three runs, two of which were earned on six hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts in five innings of work.

Now, thankfully, the bullpen was able to keep the Nationals at bay after surrendering a handful of runs in their previous two games. Thanks to Trevor Cahill, Adam Warren, Justin Grimm, and Travis Wood, the offense was given plenty of time to land the knockout blow.

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And that blow came during the bottom of the 13th inning when Javier Baez launched a walk-off homer, lifting the Cubs to a four-game sweep of the Nationals to continue their perfect week.

However, Arrieta’s earned run average went up a few points and now sits at 1.13 on the year while Trevor Roark, who pitched six solid innings, enters his next outing with a mark of 2.03. With the Nats out-of-the-way, they’ll turn their attention to the San Diego Padres.

The Padres are currently in last place in the National League West, holding a 13-19 record. They trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by only 3.5 games and the fourth place Arizona Diamondbacks by 1.5 with an opportunity to close the gap on their rivals. It won’t be easy.

Tomorrow evening, southpaw Jon Lester will be the one who takes the mound for the first-place Cubs. He’s riding a two-game winning streak but gave up eight hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates just five days ago.

Here are a few stories you may have missed over the weekend:

‘Cubs: Baez walk-off home run beats Nats, 4-3‘

‘Cubs: How the new players have fared thus far‘

‘Interview with Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo‘

‘Rockies close winning road trip‘ – Rox Pile

‘MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel May 9‘ – Fantasy CPR