For the second time in nine days, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been no-hit. After having a no-hitter thrown against them in a 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros on August 21, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly watched from the dugout on Sunday as his club logged the shortest span for a team being no-hit in 92 years when the Cubs repeated the feat.
The first pitcher to victimize the first-place Dodgers was Mike Fiers who was dealt by the Milwaukee Brewers at the non-waiver trade deadline and acquired by the Houston Astros. Having entered the game seeking his first career complete game, in his third start with his new club, the 30-year old Fiers would achieve so much more by the end of the night. Needing 134-pitches, Fiers got his first complete game and then some, striking out 10 batters and walking 3 while becoming the first pitcher to throw a no-no after being traded that season since Jim Bibby in 1973. It would be the Astros' first no-hitter since a combined no-no in 2003 against the Yankees in New York and first individual no-hitter since the late Darryl Kile stymied the Mets in the old Astrodome in 1993. The masterful outing which earned Fiers AL Player of the Week honors, was the 11th no-hitter in franchise history and first in the 16-year history of Houston's Minute Maid Park.
In what's been a remarkable season for the Astros who virtually opened the season in first place in the AL West and haven't looked back, Fiers' performance added to the excitement as Houston tries to hang onto its playoff spot with baseball entering its last full calendar month of the regular season.
On Sunday, however, the Dodgers fell victim to a whole different animal in Cubs righty Jake Arrieta. Unlike Fiers who's had an up and down season spent between two clubs, Arrieta has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball since the All-Star break having logged 14 consecutive quality starts. And in Tinsletown, Arrieta took to the mound and delivered a performance fit for the Oscars. Having dominated the entire month of August, Arrieta showcased his best stuff yet on Sunday, striking out 12 Dodger hitters while allowing only two base runners all evening in the 2-0 victory. A walk and an error by Cubbies shortstop Starlin Castro would be the only blemish on an otherwise perfect night for the Chicago right-hander. For what it's worth, Arrieta, who boasts an ERA of 2.11 on the season, has held the opposition hit-less thru the first five innings in seven of his 18 starts in 2015. But on Sunday, he would go the distance by twirling the sixth no-hitter of the 2015 season and becoming the first Cubs pitcher to toss a no-hitter since Carlos Zambrano who made history by blanking the Astros in a game played at Milwaukee's Miller Park on September 14, 2008.
Heading into the ninth inning needing only three outs, Arrieta went out in style by striking out the side to put the finishing touches on his historic night as he improved to a perfect record of 6-0 in the month of August, while tallying his Major League-leading 17th win of the season which seems like a far cry from the forgetful seasons Arrieta spent with the Baltimore Orioles. And for the first time since 2008 the Chicago Cubs (74-55) are on the cusp of a playoff berth, currently holding the second NL Wild Card spot with a 5.5-game cushion on top of the defending-champion San Francisco Giants. A lot of that has to do with the impressive second half to the season Arrieta has been able to put together. If he can keep it up, don't be surprised if his name's in the final running for the NL Cy Young Award.
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While Seattle Mariners fans haven't had a whole lot to cheer about this season after heading into 2015 with high hopes following the signing of free agent slugger Nelson Cruz, on Wednesday, 34-year old Hisashi Iwakuma gave them something to celebrate. With the Baltimore Orioles in town, Iwakuma entered the afternoon seeking his first career complete game in the states after recording 48 of them in Japan's Nippon Professional League. He would end up walking off the mound with an even greater accomplishment by pitching his team to victory and tossing a no-hitter in the process.
With the last 12 no-hitters being thrown by pitchers in the National League prior to Wednesday, Iwakuma put an end to that streak by becoming the first American Leaguer to toss a no-no since his Seattle teammate Felix Hernandez who twirled a perfect game back in 2012. Having endured a rough 2015 which saw the Japanese right-hander struggle before serving time on the disabled-list with a strained lat muscle as well as time on the trading block, Iwakuma put all that behind him on this day by returning to form in front of a Safeco Field crowd of more than 25,000 in attendance. Those who were there got to witness not only the fifth no-hitter in Mariners franchise history but only the second Japanese born hurler in Major League history to complete a no-no, joining Hideo Nomo who accomplished the feat twice as both a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and later on with the Boston Red Sox. Iwakuma, who was named to the AL All-Star team in 2013, needed 116-pitches to etch his name into the history books while striking out 7 Oriole hitters and walking 3.
Iwakuma's masterful performance was the fourth no-hitter this season following no-no's by Chris Heston of the Giants, Max Scherzer of the Nationals and Cole Hamels who threw his as a member of the Phillies before being traded less than a week later to the Rangers. Currently in a contract year and able to hit the free-agent market in the offseason, Iwakuma dug deep into his bag of tricks to remind us of the dominant pitcher who logged an impressive 2.66 ERA over 33 starts in 2013. Whether or not he'll be back on the mound in a Mariners uniform next season as the Seattle ball club remains in fourth place in the AL West at 54-61 overall following the 3-0 victory on Wednesday, Iwakuma definitely helped his stock a bit going forward.
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Just when you thought the 49ers' tumultuous offseason couldn't get any worse following the retirements of multiple payers and a handful of key cogs lost to free agency which practically gutted the franchise, the team was dealt yet another crushing blow over the weekend. With preseason football on the horizon for the San Francisco 49ers, the team was left with no other option but to release one of their brightest young talents following the arrest of Pro Bowl linebacker Aldon Smith. Smith, a player with tremendous talent but a knack for running into trouble, had his fifth run in with the law since being drafted in 2011 when he was taken into custody by Santa Clara police on alleged DUI, hit and run and vandalism charges.
The incident which stemmed from a woman reportedly parking in Smith's parking space, fueled Smith's actions which resulted in his third DUI and fifth incident overall. Though Smith was interviewed after being released the following day from county jail where he claims he was not intoxicated during the incident, 49ers GM Trent Baalke and team owner Jed York had seen enough as the team decided to part ways with the troubled 25 year old. Neither Baalke nor York would speak in front of the media, however, as first year head coach Jim Tomsula would be the one called upon to speak at the podium and in front of a live press-conference where he announced the team's decision. Given the circumstances, the organization handled the incident as well as they could have, lending a helping hand as Tomsula let it be known that although he's no longer a member of the team, Smith will be helped and supported by the franchise along his journey to recovery, stating that Aldon, "will not have to walk this path alone," while encouraging others with similar issues to seek help.
For Smith, the incident comes several months after both parties agreed to restructure the former first round pick's contract in a way that he'd be paid on a game by game basis, betting on himself as a supposed changed man who would stay out of trouble. On Friday, those promises came crashing down on Smith and the Niners like a ton of bricks. Since 1982 when sacks became an official stat, Smith, who was drafted 7th overall out of Missouri, had accumulated the most sacks through the first two seasons to start a career with 33.5 sacks from 2011-12, 2.5 more than Hall of Famer Reggie White. As for Niners defensive coordinator Eric Mangini, his first year at the helm just got that much harder as he'll now be given the challenge of having to find a replacement for one of the game's best pass rushers. With everyone wondering who's the next guy in line to fill the void of Smith at outside linebacker, several potential candidates include rookie Eli Harold who was dubbed a steal in April's Draft with the 79th pick, third-year player Corey Lemonier and Aaron Lynch who dazzled in his rookie campaign last season.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any dumber than the airport incident which landed Aldon some jail time for allegedly stating to a TSA agent that he had a bomb, Smith goes berserk and loses it over a parking space. As much as his absence sets the team back, the truth remains -- he needed to be let go.
Alongside the recently retired Justin Smith, Aldon shined in the Niners pass-rush as the two became one of the most formidable tandems in the league and were appropriately nicknamed the "Smith Brothers." With both Smith's now gone, the pass rush is one of the biggest areas of concern heading into the new season. Simply put, the 49ers franchise has been gutted and put on 'reset mode' since the end of the 2014 season which ended in disappointment following a third place finish in the NFC West at 8-8 and missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 2010. With many expecting the Niners to take an even bigger step back in 2015 even before the release of Aldon Smith, coach Tomsula and company has a tall order ahead of them as they look to quiet the critics and prove that the team is in reload mode rather than rebuild mode.
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Following a roller coaster ride in June which featured plenty of ups and downs for the San Francisco Giants, the G-Men opened up the month of July like a team asleep at the wheel, losing their first seven games after being swept on the road by the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals before dropping two of three at home to the Mets. Having endured their second 7-game losing streak of the season, Giants manager Bruce Bochy called upon Matt Cain who pitched his team to victory in his second start of the season and first at home since August of last year as the former Giants ace hurled six shutout frames in a 3-0 win.
With a series against the visiting Phillies prior to baseball's Midsummer Classic, the Giants headed into the All-Star break with a bit of confidence and a three-game winning-streak following a three-game sweep of struggling Philadelphia. With a few days of rest and the return of Hunter Pence to the lineup, Bruce Bochy's ball club would begin playing their best ball of the season with a stretch of 13 wins in 15 games as the Giants turned up the heat in the NL Western Division standings and pulled within a 1/2 game of the rival Dodgers. Series wins against the D-Backs, Padres and Brewers as well as the first three-game sweep of their bay area rival Oakland A's for the first time at AT&T Park since 2011, would catapult the G-Men 11-games over .500 with a record of 56-45. In the series finale against the Athletics, Giants starter Tim Hudson joined an elite group of players by becoming only the 15th pitcher in MLB history to beat all 30 current teams following the 4-3 win, besting the team he broke onto the big league scene with in 1999 where he played six seasons.
Entering a weekend series against the Texas Rangers to close out the month of July and spring forward the month of August, the Giants headed into the lone star state as the hottest team in baseball before cooling down after splitting the first two games and eventually dropping the rubber match in the team's first visit to Arlington since the clinching Game 5 of the 2010 World Series. After allowing just 4 runs in his last three starts combined entering the weekend, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner was roughed up on the road in Texas. The Texas heat coupled with the power-driven offense of the Rangers made for a disastrous night on the mound as MadBum was touched for 6 earned runs in the contest. With the health of Tim Lincecum up in the air and the team unsure whether or not they'll see the 2-time Cy Young Award winner pitch again this season as he recovers from a degenerative condition in his hip which he was recently diagnosed with and has kept him on the shelf since June 27, Giants GM Brian Sabean was forced to dig into his bag of tricks.
Seeking some depth in the Giants rotation, the pitching staff got some much needed help from the front-office with the acquisition of right-handed pitcher Mike Leake from the Cincinnati Reds before Friday's trade deadline in exchange for Minor Leaguers Adam Duvall and Keury Mella. Making his Giants debut in the series finale against Texas, Leake, who becomes a free-agent following the season, pitched an impressive 6.1 innings while striking out 5 and yielding 8 hits, 2 walks and allowing only 2-runs on a home run by Josh Hamilton. However, Leake would suffer the loss as the Giants fell, 2-1. Leake came over in the trade owning a record of 9-5 on the year and an ERA of 3.56 in 21 starts as Cincy's no.2 man in the rotation, not bad for a guy pitching in Cincinnati's hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark.
Overall, San Francisco finished 14-10 in the month of July and currently stand 2.5 games back of the Dodgers with a record of 57-47 as they get set to pay the Atlanta Braves a visit for a three-game set before closing their current road trip with four meetings at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field versus the Cubs. August will serve as a major test for the orange and black as 8 of the 9 remaining series' this month will be against contending teams (@ Cubs, vs Astros, vs Nationals, @ Cardinals, @ Pirates, vs Cubs, vs Cardinals and @ Dodgers) with the lone exception of the Braves. Let's just hope the Giants' emotional leader in Hunter Pence can stay healthy as the team sports a record of 27-11 with him in the line-up this season opposed to 30-36 without him.
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