Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta in the fifth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
AFP/Chicago
Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta threw a no-hitter on Sunday in a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, the sixth no-hitter in Major League Baseball this season.
Arrieta’s pitching masterclass—the first Cubs no-hitter in seven years—made the 29-year-old the major leagues leader in victories.
The 6ft 4in right hander allowed only two baserunners, a walk and an error, on his way to collecting 12 strikeouts from 116 pitches.
It was the first Cubs no-hitter since Carlos Zambrano achieved the feat in 2008 against the Houston Astros.
Arrieta completed his landmark night in the ninth inning, striking out third baseman Justin Turner, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Chase Utley.
“I was just making pitches, and if it happened, it happened,” Arrieta told ESPN after the final out. “I was able to finish it off. It’s a great feeling.
“Everybody who plays this game wants to accomplish great things. You think about that all the time as a kid. You see other people do it, and you want to be a part of something like that. It’s hard to put that into words right now.”
It was the second time in 10 days that the Dodgers have been on the wrong end of a no-hitter after Astros star Mike Fiers achieved the feat on August 21 in Houston.
Arrieta joins San Francisco Giants’ Chris Heston, the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cole Hamels, the Seattle Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma and Fiers as pitchers to throw a no-hitter.
“I think it’ll be even more special the longer it sets in, but it’s a good feeling,” Arrieta said.
“I’ve come a long way. I just look forward to keep getting better, building, being a good teammate and hopefully getting to the postseason with this group of guys.”
Arrieta, who has come close to recording a no-hitter before, admitted the experiences of previous near-misses had helped him close out his performance.
“In the eighth inning was when it really started to become a reality,” Arrieta said.
“Everything happens so fast. The sequences are happening so quickly. I’ve been close a couple of other times, so as the game wore on, I tried to use those past experiences to my advantage, try to stay calm and maintain the focus.”
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had no complaints about his side’s inability to cope with Arrieta’s performance.
“You can’t say our at-bats were bad,” Mattingly said. “This guy, his stuff was really good tonight. It’s really good all the time.”
Blue Jays complete sweep of Tigers Russell Martin has been on postseason teams before but the Toronto Blue Jays catcher said after a 9-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday that this team might be on the way to doing something really big.
“If this isn’t the feel of a championship team, I don’t know what is,” said Martin, who hit a two-run homer.
“I feel like we’re great offensively, we’re great on defense. We’re pitching great, our bullpen has depth.
“I like what we have going. We have to just keep pushing and keep playing the way we play and I think we’re going to do great things this year.”
Edwin Encarnacion hit his fourth homer in two days and extended his hitting streak to a Major League-best 25 games as the Blue Jays improved their record to 21-5 for August.
Encarnacion, who hit three home runs and equaled the club record with nine RBIs on Saturday, went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch on Sunday.
Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar also homered on Sunday for the Blue Jays (74-56), who completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers (60-70).
Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle (14-6) allowed five hits, two walks and two runs (one earned) in six-plus innings to earn the win.
Tigers right-hander Alfredo Simon (11-9) allowed six runs and four home runs among six hits in five innings to take the loss.
“We ran into the best offensive team in the league,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “They were swinging the bats extremely well and we didn’t pitch very well. That’s not a good recipe.
“They can put up runs in a hurry and they did that against us for three straight days. ...You feel like you’re always digging yourself out of a hole.”
Donaldson, the Blue Jays third baseman, hit his 36th homer of the season with one out in the first.
Encarnacion, the designated hitter, followed with his 30th of the season with two outs in the first.
His hit streak tied him with third baseman Scott Rolen for the fourth longest in club history. Rolen’s 25-game streak came in 2009.
“We’re playing great baseball,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “That’s pretty obvious. Everything’s really clicking. Our offense is on fire, our pitching’s been good, our defense has been great.
“It’s all come together to this point.”