Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is on top of the baseball world. As if hurling a no-hitter last season just 10 starts ago and winning the NL Cy Young Award wasn't enough, the ace of Chicago's staff has already began putting together an even more impressive encore with a dazzling start to the 2016 season. On the road in Cincinnati to face the Reds, Arrieta tossed his second career no-hitter and just the 15th no-hitter in the 141 year history of the Cubs franchise. While the Cubbies ignited the scoreboard with five home runs en route to a 16-0 shellacking of their opponent, the second-largest margin of victory in a no-no, it would be all about the reigning Cy Young Award winner who has been on quite the journey since being traded to the Cubs just three seasons ago where he's evolved into one of the game's best pitchers.
It's hard to believe the last few seasons Arrieta has had considering he was demoted to the Minor Leagues by the Baltimore Orioles back in 2013 after compiling an ERA of 6.63 in four starts which eventually led to the O's parting ways with their struggling starter. It's safe to say Arrieta has turned it around since then as he's now recorded 24 consecutive quality starts, riding an ERA of 0.86 in those 24 games. To put Arrieta's recent dominance into perspective, he's given up only seven earned runs over his last 119 1/3 innings pitched. And interestingly enough, both of Arrieta's no-no's have come on the road, falling one shy of the all-time mark set by Nolan Ryan who tossed three of his seven career no-hitters while a member of the visiting team. Though he did allow four walks in the game and struckout six, Arrieta also out-hit the Reds by collecting a pair of singles on his way to becoming only the third Cub to record a pair of no-no's, joining Ken Holtzman and Larry Corcoran. At the ripe age of 39 years old, it would be the first no-hitter caught by Cubs catcher David Ross who had announced during spring training that the 2016 season would be his last. It would also be the first time Cincinnati would be held hit-less in 45 years.
Not since Philadelphia's Rick Wise no-hit Cincy on June 23, 1971 had the Reds been held without a hit, ending a span of 7,109 games for the longest active streak during the regular season. In his age 30 season, Arrieta who improved to 4-0 on the year with the win and is only the fourth reigning Cy Young winner to toss a no-hitter the following year, has appeared to have learned from those struggles early in his career while a member of the Orioles and has benefited from a change of scenery to quickly help him rise atop the list as one of baseball's best pitchers and on the cusp of reaching elite status if he hasn't already. Favored by many to make it to and win the World Series this year, Chicago is off to a 12-4 start to the season and is out to an early lead in the NL Central division standings. After falling short to the New York Mets in the NLCS a year ago, Joe Maddon's ball club appears poised and hungry for another run at a National League pennant with none other than Arrieta leading the way.
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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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