19 Straight for Jake the Great
21 May, 2016
Even one of baseball’s hottest team’s couldn’t slow down Jake Arrieta.
Arrieta gave up four hits and one walk while striking out eight in seven innings to win his 19th consecutive decision as the Chicago Cubs beat San Francisco 8-1 Friday night, snapping the Giants’ eight-game winning streak.
“It was a battle for me,” said Arrieta, who leads the majors with a 1.29 ERA. “I wasn’t crisp until the third or fourth inning. Those guys are tough, top to bottom and they make you work. I had to adjust on the fly a little bit. I brought my B stuff and had to sequence differently.”
The Cubs have won Arrieta’s last 22 starts going back to last season, with their ace going 19-0 in that stretch. Chicago also won on the road for the 24th time in 29 games.
Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward left the game in the bottom of the first inning after crashing into the left field wall on a diving catch. He chased a shot over his head off the bat of Denard Span, robbing the Giants’ leadoff man of extra bases on the third pitch he saw from Arrieta (8-0).
“The first hitter of the game, something like that. I’m at a loss for words,” Arrieta said of Heyward’s catch in the deepest part of the stadium.
“That’s an amazing catch. What he’s capable with the glove in the outfield, it’s amazing. I think he’ll be just fine. A little sore, but I hope he’s back as soon as possible.”
Heyward is under evaluation for an injury to his right torso abdominal region, the Cubs said.
“He’ll get an MRI in the morning,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We don’t know anything yet. That might have been the game right there. He threw caution to the wind. That could have been an inside-the-park home run and they have a different mentality.”
Arrieta retired 13 of the last 16 batters he faced after allowing Joe Panik’s two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the third — just the second run Arrieta has allowed through the first three innings this season.
“That’s what he’s been doing,” Maddon said. “Makes pitches when he has to. His stuff is so good, even without his good command, he can be productive.”
The Cubs also got production from Kris Bryant, who was 2 for 5 with four RBIs, including a three-run homer to left off Jake Peavy (1-5) that highlighted a five-run outburst in the top of the second inning.
After Bryant’s homer, Anthony Rizzo chased Peavy with a single to right that snapped his streak of 13 consecutive hitless at-bats.
Peavy allowed five runs and seven hits and two walks after 1 2/3 innings. He threw 55 pitches.
Fox Sports
Image NBCSports twitter
Mentioned In This Post:
