Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta got a taste of defeat Sunday for the first time in more than 10 months.
Thanks to the Cubs’ 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner suffered his first loss since July 25, 2015, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Arrieta struck out 12 in five innings of work while allowing three earned runs at Wrigley Field.
Arrieta’s last loss was at home against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter that day to claim the 5-0 victory against Chicago before being traded to the Texas Rangers four days later.
Since that loss, Arrieta seemed unstoppable. He closed the season by going 11-0 in 13 starts, and the Cubs won all of those games. That started a streak of the Cubs winning 23 consecutive games in which Arrieta started, which the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped Tuesday.
It was a phenomenal 10-game homestand overall for the Cubs, but their two losses came in the most unusual of ways, as Jon Greenberg of the Athletic Chicago noted:
Arrieta’s bid for a second straight Cy Young Award is off to a terrific start. While the loss Sunday is his first blemish of 2016, he came into the day with a 9-0 record and among the league leaders in ERA. Sunday’s loss increased Arrieta’s ERA to 1.80, per ESPN.com, trailing only Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
Chicago still holds a comfortable lead in the National League Central and has the best record in the majors by a solid margin. Despite losing a pair of fluke games with their best pitcher on the mound, the Cubs continue to rack up wins. They’ll be fine.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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