Arrieta shuts down Dodgers with 14th no-hitter in Cubs history
Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta joined exclusive company Sunday night, throwing a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Arrieta needed just 116 pitches to mow down a Dodgers lineup that was no-hit just nine days earlier by Houston Astros right-hander Mike Fiers.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
He struck out a season-high 12 hitters in his team's 2-0 victory, allowing just two Dodgers to reach base.
Arrieta walked Jimmy Rollins in the sixth, but Enrique Hernandez reached on a Starlin Castro fielding error in the bottom of the third that the pitcher thought was a hit.
"It went by so quick, feels like that could have been just five innings, the way it played out," Arrieta said in a post-game interview. "My stuff was good, commanded the ball well ... I'm kind of speechless right now."
In an exciting ninth inning, Arrieta struck out the side, sitting down Justin Turner, Rollins, and Chase Utley with strikeouts. He became one of three pitchers to strike out the side to end a no-hitter, joining Sandy Koufax (1965) and Chris Heston (earlier this season).
Arrieta's no-hitter is the 14th in franchise history, and the first since Carlos Zambrano accomplished the feat on Sept. 14, 2008 against the Houston Astros at Miller Park in Milwaukee - a game relocated to a neutral site in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Last September, he took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds and had it broken up by a Brandon Phillips double, making the accomplishment a sweet reward for the pitcher acquired by Chicago in a trade from the Baltimore Orioles in July of 2013.
"I've been in those situations before, fairly late in the game, sixth, seventh, eighth inning, so it was kind of familiar territory until I got to the ninth," he said. "I went out there and kept making pitches. If it happened, it happened ... I was able to finish it off and it was a great feeling."
With the victory, Arrieta moved to 6-0 with a 0.43 ERA in August, while securing his major league-leading 17th win of the season, and dropping his season ERA to an astonishing 2.11.