Cubs starter Jake Arrieta lost his bid for a no-hitter against the Red Sox with two outs in the eighth inning on a single from Stephen Drew to right field.
Cubs’ Jake Arrieta loses no-hitter in 8th inning against Red Sox
The Cubs right-hander didn’t allow a hit through 7⅔ innings before Stephen Drew hit a single to break up the no-hit bid.
Jared Wickerham
Arrieta had allowed only one base runner, a fifth-inning walk to Mike Napoli, while striking out 10 Red Sox batters and throwing 120 pitches through 7⅔ innings.
The right-hander was coming off a start in which he retired the first 18 batters he faced against the Reds on June 24 before allowing three hits over seven innings of work.
Against the Red Sox on Monday, Arrieta picked up right where he left off. The righty didn’t allow a ball out of the infield until the third inning, and even after Drew’s single in the eighth, no Boston batter even reached second base against the Cubs starter.
In fact, Arrieta was showing few signs of slowing down in the eighth despite seeing his pitch count creep well past 100 pitches. The five-year veteran struck out Napoli looking to begin the eighth and induced a fly out to right field against Xander Bogaerts before Drew's single broke up the no-hit bid.
The Cubs won 2-0, improving Arrieta’s record to 5-1 in 2014.
The 28-year-old Arrieta is quietly having a tremendous year in Chicago, posting a 1.81 ERA and 1.96 FIP this season. Arrieta has struck out 74 batters, while walking just 16 in 64⅔ innings pitched. In six starts in the month of June, Arrieta gave up just four earned runs in 39⅓ innings.
The last Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Carlos Zambrano against the Astros in 2008. Prior to that, a Cubs hurler hadn't thrown a no-no since Milt Pappas did so against the Padres back in 1972. The Cubs have had 13 different no-hitters in franchise history, with Ken Holtzman throwing two during his time with the club, one in 1969 and another in 1971.
Major League Baseball has seen three no-hitters so far this season. Tim Lincecum no-hit the Padres last Wednesday, and prior to that, Dodgers teammates Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw held the Phillies and Rockies hitless, respectively.
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