Seven months later, the Pittsburgh Pirates still cannot hit Jake Arrieta.
Then again, they are hardly the only ones.
The Chicago Cubs ace scattered two hits in seven shutout innings in a 7-1 victory that looked more than a little like Arrieta’s dominant performance in an National League wild-card playoff win at PNC Park in October last year. Arrieta (6-0) only allowed singles to Sean Rodriguez in the second and Francisco Cervelli in the seventh, striking out five and walking two, while lowering his ERA to 0.84. He became the second six-game winner in the MLB after Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.
“He struggled early, then once he finds out where the ball is going, everything takes off for him,” Chicago coach Joe Maddon said.
Kris Bryant had three hits for the Cubs, who have won seven of eight and moved five games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
Jon Niese (3-1) gave up six runs and nine hits over five innings, while losing for the first time since the Pirates acquired him from the New York Mets in an off-season trade.
Two starts removed from his second career no-hitter, Arrieta kept on going. His only real trouble spot came in the first, when he issued consecutive walks to John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen. A strikeout, a fielder’s choice and a harmless grounder back to the mound later, Arrieta had his bearings.
The Pirates could do little to stop him even with coach Clint Hurdle using an unorthodox lineup that included Matt Joyce in right field, owing in large part to his career .500 batting average against Arrieta. Yet, the last time Joyce faced Arrieta was in 2013, when Arrieta was struggling in Baltimore. Not anymore.
“He is facing a different guy now,” Arrieta said.
Joyce went zero for three with Arrieta in the game and Pittsburgh did not get a runner over his final six innings.
“He does not get out of his zone,” Joyce said.
The Cubs have won each of Arrieta’s last 19 starts. He became the first Chicago pitcher to win each of his first six starts in a season since Mordecai Brown won his first 11 starts in 1908, which is also the last time the Cubs won the World Series.
Arrieta is doing his best not to get caught up in his own hype.
“You try to enjoy it, but it is short lived because of the goals we have here,’” he said.
The Cubs wasted little time taking control. Chicago jumped in front 2-0 in the second on a run-scoring groundout by Javier Baez and an RBI single by Arrieta. The Cubs tagged Jon Niese for four more runs in the fourth as Niese struggled with his command. Addison Russell scored on a wild pitch, Jorge Soler and Bryant followed with RBI singles and Rizzo smacked a run-scoring double as Niese’s ERA rose to 5.84.
That was more than enough offense for Arrieta, who left after 99 pitches and his winning streak firmly intact.
Rodriguez scored Pittsburgh’s only run in the eighth on Jaso’s single.
In other games, it was:
‧ Royals 7, Nationals 6
‧ Indians 7, Tigers 3
‧ Braves 3, Mets 0
‧ Orioles 4, Yankees 1
‧ Giants 3, Reds 1
‧ Dodgers 10, Rays 5
‧ Marlins 7, Diamondbacks 4
‧ Blue Jays 3, Rangers 1
‧ Phillies 1, Cardinals 0
‧ Brewers 5, Angels 4
‧ White Sox 4, Red Sox 1
‧ Astros 6, Twins 4
‧ Mariners 8, Athletics 2
‧ Padres 6, Rockies 3
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