National League Game Summary - Cincinnati at Chicago
Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Arrieta came up short on another no-hit bid but still completed his shutout of the Cincinnati Reds as the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 7-0 victory on Tuesday.
Arrieta (9-5) faced the minimum through seven frames and was five outs away from tossing the 14th no-hitter in Cubs history. The right-hander was ahead 0-2 on Brandon Phillips before the slugging second baseman lined a gapper to the warning track in left for Cincinnati's only hit.
Rookie center fielder Matt Szczur made a valiant attempt with an all-out dive near the wall but came up well short as Phillips strolled in with a double.
Arrieta stranded Phillips on second and finished off his first career complete game and shutout with a career-high 13 strikeouts.
Jorge Soler went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI while Chris Coghlan blew the game open with a three-run double in the sixth.
Cincinnati has dropped three in a row and has been shut out three times in nine games, including the first two meetings of this three-game set.
Any chance Johnny Cueto (18-9) had of challenging Clayton Kershaw for the NL Cy Young Award fell by the wayside after he surrendered a season high-tying six runs on five hits and five walks.
This was the third time this year Arrieta took a no-hitter into the seventh, including setting down the first 18 Reds the previous time he faced them on June 24.
Billy Hamilton broke up that perfect game bid with a leadoff hit in the seventh, and the speedster was the only Reds baserunner through 7 1/3 innings on Tuesday. Hamilton opened the fourth with a walk but was got caught trying to steal second when replay overturned a safe call.
Arrieta helped himself with a leadoff double in the third, and Cueto showed unusual control issues by hitting Coghlan and walking Luis Valbuena.
Cueto limited the damage to one run on Soler's fielder's choice, but he loaded the bases again in the sixth and did not make it through the inning.
Chris Valaika and Szczur both walked with the bases full to force in a run, and Coghlan cleared the bags with a double to left to end Cueto's outing.
Jorge Soler hit a solo homer off Sam LeCure in the seventh.