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Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta witnessed his home scoreless streak come to an end at 52.2 innings when he surrendered an RBI double to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Alex Presley in the fifth inning of Thursday’s eventual 7-2 Cubs victory, per Sportsnet Stats.

Arrieta‘s streak, unsurprisingly, is the longest of its kind by any Cubs pitcher in Wrigley Field history. 

Although Presley’s RBI double was the only earned run charged to Arrieta on Thursday, the Cubs ace did walk four Brewers and allow three hits en route to his league-leading fifth win of the 2016 season.

Last year, he posted a 22-6 record to go along with a 1.77 ERA and 236 strikeouts on his way to winning the Cubs’ first National League Cy Young Award since Greg Maddux in 1992.

Arrieta‘s impressive feat brings back memories of other notable scoreless innings records in MLB history. One in particular that comes to mind is that of Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Orel Hershiser, who famously went 59 consecutive innings without allowing a run during the 1988 season.

Interestingly enough, Hershiser tossed 41 of those innings on the road, per Andrew Simon of MLB.com.

In any case, Arrieta‘s next home start is scheduled for May 8 against the Washington Nationals, though he’s first slated to face the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Tuesday.

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Coming off a National League Cy Young Award in 2015 and a dazzling start this season, Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta is seeking big money and a long-term contract from the team that helped him reinvent his career.  

Continue for updates. 

Cubs, Arrieta Far Apart in Contract Talks

Friday, April 29

Per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Arrieta is seeking a seven-year deal, and the Cubs are currently offering four years, with “no optimism” that a deal gets done soon. 

Arrieta has been nearly unhittable since the 2015 All-Star break. He had a 0.75 ERA, 55 hits allowed and 113 strikeouts in 107.1 innings in the second half last year en route to winning the NL Cy Young Award. 

Proving his late flurry was no fluke, Arrieta is off to a 5-0 start this year with a 1.00 ERA, 18 hits allowed, 32 strikeouts and one no-hitter in 36 innings this season. He’s making $10.7 million this season, his second year being eligible for arbitration, per Spotrac. 

Even though Arrieta’s performance warrants consideration for a long-term contract, the Cubs have all the leverage with their star right-hander. He’s under control through next season and will be a free agent heading into his age-32 season in 2018. 

Zack Greinke, who turned 32 last October, signed a six-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December after finishing third in NL Cy Young Award voting with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015. He’s struggled out of the gate this year, admittedly in a small sample size, posting a 6.16 ERA with an MLB-high 39 hits allowed in 30.2 innings.  

But long-term deals for pitchers over the age of 30 are a riskier gamble because the stress of pitching, combined with advanced age, can lead to health problems. CC Sabathia has been an albatross for the New York Yankees since 2013. 

The Cubs front office is revered in MLB because it builds through drafts and trades, while largely avoiding big mistakes. Its big investment this winter, Jason Heyward, was unique because he was a free agent at 26. 

If Arrieta continues to be the most dominant starter in baseball, he will eventually get the deal he seeks. It may not come from the Cubs, but they don’t have to worry about losing him for two years. 

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Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta gave up an earned run in the fifth inning of his start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, which ended his scoreless streak inside the friendly confines of Wrigley Field at 52.2 innings.

The Cubs passed along word of the remarkable run on their official Twitter feed and noted Elias Sports Bureau research showed it was the second-longest home scoreless-innings streak in MLB history.  

Milwaukee ended the streak with what started as a routine inning. Yadiel Rivera struck out, and Hernan Perez grounded out to begin the fifth after four scoreless frames from Arrieta. But then Jonathan Villar singled, stole second and scored on a double by Alex Presley.

It marked the first of two extended streaks to end Thursday. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald highlighted the other after someone pinch hit for the right-hander in the bottom of the fifth:

A starter must go at least six innings to register a quality start. So even though Arrieta gave up just the single earned run over five frames, the streak ends.

He exited the contest with the Cubbies holding a 6-1 lead after the fifth. It wasn’t the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner’s most efficient outing, however, as he had four walks for the second straight start. He issued just two free passes in his first three outings combined.

Of course, the four walks in his last start got overshadowed by the no-hitter he twirled against the Cincinnati Reds last Thursday. In the aftermath of that memorable performance, he sounded off to Bob Nightengale of USA Today about opponents thinking he’s using performance-enhancing drugs:

I’ve heard players, and I’m talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I’ve taken steroids or not. Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.

I’ll see on Twitter, ‘My close source revealed to me he’s on steroids.’ Well, the 10 tests I take a year say otherwise. I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out. And I do things the right way.

If there are guys still on it, I hope they get caught. I care about the integrity of the game. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my family, my friends, my fans. That’s a huge motivating factor in doing it the right way.

Clearly that type of talk strikes a chord for Arrieta and rightfully so. It’s not a surprise when players who struggled early in their careers before enjoying high-end success hear those type of whispers, so full credit to him for taking a stand against it.

He’s been nothing short of outstanding since the start of the 2014 campaign. The fact the Brewers were able to get a measly one run off him in five innings and broke two streaks in the process illustrates that. He’ll look to start new streaks when he returns to the mound next week against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has throttled into a sphere of superstardom following a few mundane seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, but the 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner is sick of anonymous claims that he’s been aided by the use of performance-enhancing drugs.    

In an interview with USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale published Tuesday, Arrieta said he’s heard the criticism lobbed his way ever since he started fanning batters like one of the league’s best. 

“I’ve heard players, and I’m talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I’ve taken steroids or not,” Arrieta said. “Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.

“I’ll see on Twitter, ‘My close source revealed to me he’s on steroids.’ Well, the 10 tests I take a year say otherwise. I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out. And I do things the right way.”

After going 20-25 with a 5.46 ERA over the course of three-and-a-half seasons with the Orioles, Arrieta has turned the corner and morphed into one of MLB‘s most dominant pitchers. Steady improvement was evident during the second half of the 2013 season and the 2014 campaign, but his 2015 campaign served as a revelation of sorts. 

Not only did Arrieta win a league-best 22 games while tossing four complete games and three shutouts, but he notched his first career no-hitter before earning Cy Young honors. This season, Arrieta has maintained dominant form with a 4-0 record, 0.87 ERA and the season’s first no-hitter. 

However, the 30-year-old made it clear he hasn’t violated any rules or cut any corners to achieve greatness. 

“If there are guys still on it, I hope they get caught,” Arrieta told Nightengale. “I care about the integrity of the game. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my family, my friends, my fans. That’s a huge motivating factor in doing it the right way.”

Arrieta also discussed his future in the Windy City and made it clear he plans to cash out with the Cubs or another franchise when he hits the open market in 2017.

“If we don’t work out a deal here and I go to free agency, I will get six or seven years,” Arrieta said. “No doubt about that. I’d like to stay in Chicago, but if they don’t want me, somebody will.”

Nightengale added that Arrieta and his agent, Scott Boras, sought a seven-year contract extension during the offseason only to be rebuffed. However, the star pitcher reiterated he’d like to remain with the Cubs if they’re amenable to changing their negotiating tactics. 

“I know the Cubs don’t typically do six- or seven-year deals, but I think there are obviously times when there should be exceptions,” Arrieta added, per Nightengale. “I think I’ve done pretty well here. I would enjoy staying in Chicago. But when the opportunities are out there like they are, I’m going to keep an open mind.” 

If Arrieta can maintain a semblance of his current pace, the Cubs would be wise to seek a long-term partnership with their most prized pitcher.

According to CSN Chicago’s Christopher Kamka, Arrieta is 20-1 with a 0.86 ERA, 173 strikeouts, 33 walks and 0.697 WHIP over his last 24 regular-season starts.

Those numbers may not be sustainable as Arrieta ages into his 30s, but even slight regression would keep him nestled in the league’s elite-pitching tier. 

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Fact: Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is the second pitcher all-time to throw multiple no-hitters without suffering a loss in between them.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: ESPN Stats & Info

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Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta tossed a no-hitter in Thursday’s 16-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, becoming just the second player ever to throw a pair of no-hitters without taking any losses in the time between, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Arrieta‘s other no-no occurred Aug. 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping him eventually take home National League Cy Young honors last season.

He made just nine regular-season starts between the two historic outings, which trails only Johnny Vander Meer (zero) and Warren Spahn (five) for fewest starts separating two no-hitters.

Vander Meer, of course, is the only pitcher besides Arrieta to avoid any losses between no-hitters, as he threw two in a row in June 1938.

The Cubs nearly set another record in support of Arrieta, recording the largest margin of victory in a no-hitter since 1884, when the Buffalo Bisons won 18-0 in support of Pud Galvin, per MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Arrieta now has 24 consecutive quality starts in the regular season, putting him in a tie for the third-longest streak in MLB history, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Furthermore, he joined Larry Corcoran (three) and Ken Holtzman (two) as the only pitchers to throw multiple no-hitters for the Cubs, per ESPN Stats & Info.

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Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta tossed his second career no-hitter Thursday, holding the Cincinnati Reds to just four walks in a 16-0 rout.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, victims of Arrieta’s first no-no back in 2015, reached out to the Reds via Twitter, and the ensuing interaction was hilarious:

Arrieta is 4-0 on the year with a 0.87 ERA. The Cubs, meanwhile, have scored 97 runs in 16 games.

Even if Arrieta doesn’t toss another no-no, odds are good that other teams will be in need of support after playing the Cubs.

[h/t Cut4]

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There were doubters—critics and naysayers who said Jake Arrieta was destined for regression after his otherworldly 2015 campaign.

Instead, the Chicago Cubs right-hander and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner has blasted deeper into the stratosphere.

On Thursday in Cincinnati, Arrieta defined dominant, twirling a no-hitter for the second straight season in a 16-0 Cubs drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds. In the process of hammering down those 27 historic outs, he cemented his status as baseball’s best pitcher.

In fact, USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale made that bold-but-true assertion before the feat was even complete:

No, the Reds aren’t an offensive juggernaut. But they’ve got a lineup littered with dangerous hitters, including former NL MVP Joey Votto.

And no, Arrieta wasn’t perfect Thursday night, as he issued a season-high four walks. But he was also pitching in a noted bandbox that was the second-most hitter-friendly yard in the Senior Circuit last season, according to ESPN’s Park Factors statistic. 

There’s simply no parsing this one, no tearing it down. Arrieta stated his case, unequivocally, by the banks of the Ohio River.

Honestly, the fact that he did it while struggling slightly with his command and perhaps not possessing his very best stuff only underlines the amazingness.

After those nine sterling frames, Arrieta’s ERA sits at an absurd 0.87. He’s surrendered just 15 hits in 31 innings while fanning 26. It’s early, sure. But this is merely a continuation of the brilliance he unleashed in 2015.

He’s 20-1 in his last 24 starts. Pitching wins are an outmoded stat, but still—pause and let that sink in.

Arrieta’s last—and first career—no-hitter came August 30, 2015, against the Los Angeles Dodgers in L.A. The Dodgers used Thursday’s no-no as an excuse to fire off a tongue-in-cheek tip of the cap:

Speaking of Los Angeles, they have a guy by the name of Clayton Kershaw who, like Arrieta, pitched a no-hitter in 2014 as a reigning Cy Young winner.

Also like Arrieta, Kershaw has a credible claim to the “best pitcher in baseball” label. Maybe over the course of the 162-game grind, Kershaw will again successfully argue his case, as he has so many times before.

Or maybe a young gun like the New York Mets‘ Noah Syndergaard—who is living up to his Norse god nickname with triple-digit thunderbolts—will swoop in and steal the throne.

Today’s MLB is littered with top-shelf studs, in fact. Toss a rosin bag and you’ll hit one. Right now, though, Arrieta is the man. You can lean on the stats, and they’ll do the talking.

Or you can simply use your eyeballs.

Take the ninth inning on Thursday. With two outs and two strikes on the batter, Eugenio Suarez, Arrieta flipped a breaking pitch belt-high over the outside corner. Home plate umpire Dana DeMuth flinched, but he called it a ball. 

Another pitcher might have been rattled. Instead, Arrieta scowled, bore down and two pitches later—on his 119th throw of the night—induced a game-ending pop-up. (Really, DeMuth should buy Arrieta a beer for the flood of vitriolic hate mail he avoided.)

“It feels different the second time,” Arrieta said of his encore performance, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I was a little more relaxed as the game progressed.”

His catcher concurred.

“He’s capable of doing that every time,” Cubs backstop David Ross said, per Wittenmyer. “I think mentally he expects to do that. He’s not shocked when he does stuff like that.”

Yes, Arrieta is the guy who slid to the fifth round in the 2007 draft, where the Baltimore Orioles nabbed him. He’s the guy who didn’t post a sub-4.00 ERA until 2014, his fifth big league season, and wobbled frequently with his command.

That year, 2014, was also his first full season with the Cubs. Simply put, Arrieta has been reborn on the North Side.

Now, in his age-30 season—pitching for a loaded young team with legitimate championship aspirations—he has blossomed into an ace.

Not just any ace, either. An ace among aces. The ace.

There were doubters. On Thursday, Arrieta doused any who remained in a barrage of no-hit stuff and a cascade of celebratory sports drink.

That had to feel good.

All statistics current as of April 21 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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This is a weird thing to say about a pitcher who dominated like a fiend en route to winning the National League Cy Young in 2015, but here goes:

Jake Arrieta appears to be just fine, thank you very much.

The 30-year-old right-hander looked very much like his 2015 self in the Chicago Cubs‘ season-opening 9-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Monday night. He pitched seven shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and six strikeouts.

To put a finer point on it, Arrieta hasn’t looked this good since the second half of 2015. That’s when he was busy compiling an all-time-great 0.75 ERA in 15 starts, a stretch that lowered his overall ERA to a Cy Young-worthy 1.77 across 229 innings.

And though there was never too much doubt about Arrieta‘s ability to get back to emasculating hitters, Monday night’s outing is still worth an exhale and a “Phew…”

There was a rough patch in between Arrieta‘s best days in 2015 and his 2016 debut, after all. He ran out of gas last October, losing effectiveness and, in a related story, velocity. He was then held back this spring and struggled with his command by walking six batters in 11.1 innings. And at one point, a blister on his right thumb was casting an ominous specter over his Opening Day assignment.

None of these signs pointed toward outright doom for Arrieta in 2016. But to borrow words from Dayn Perry of CBS Sports, the notion of him suffering from a “workload hangover” had to be given the time of day. Heck, even Joe Maddon was trying to keep expectations in check.

“Just understand, it’s going to be very difficult for him to do what he did last year,” the Cubs skipper told Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. “I still expect that he’s going to pitch extremely well. But that was unworldly a little bit in the second half of the year. I would not anticipate that many innings out of him again. I think it’s really important that we temper that.”

But his current 2016 workload, such as it is, makes Arrieta‘s future look positively peachy.

So much for any concerns about him carrying over last October’s velocity dip. Per the raw data at Brooks Baseball, he sat around 94.5 mph with his heat on Monday night. That’s a tick above the 94.1 mph he averaged last October and right in line with the velocity he had last April.

Also, so much for any concerns about Arrieta carrying over his spring training command struggles. Beyond the one walk, he threw 64 of his 89 pitches for strikes. They were good strikes, too, as he mainly worked lefty batters away and righty batters around the outside corner.

And though he didn’t really need to prove this part, Arrieta‘s stuff was also in good shape. He confirmed as much when he made Mike Trout, perhaps the most dangerous hitter in the American League, look like a chump with this beauty:

This seemingly impossibly good pitch is Arrieta‘s changeup, which is actually his fourth-best pitch. That was one of only three changeups he threw against the Angels, but the sheer quality of that pitch brings up something Arrieta told Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (h/t Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation).

“I’m becoming more comfortable with [the changeup], it’s gotten better every year,” he said, adding:

But to stay sharp with it, you need to work on it on a consistent basis. I use it a lot in my side sessions. It was a pitch for me that I could use from time to time and get some big outs. I want to be able to have that and establish it in just about every start. Just to kind of have another look that guys have to worry about.

Arrieta really didn’t start leaning on his changeup last season until September, but it paid off in a flurry of whiffs when he did. If he has more changeups like the one he fooled Trout with, it wouldn’t be out of the blue if the pitch became a larger part of his dominant routine.

And if not, oh well.

Arrieta still has his military-grade slider and curveball, and those pitches were also in fine form against the Angels. Arrieta got whiffs on a quarter of the breaking balls he threw, which is in line with what he did last year and then some. And even when the Angels made contact against him, they had a hard time getting the ball out of the infield.

In all, Monday looks like just the latest chapter in the story about how hard it is to doubt Arrieta‘s career revival with the Cubs.

The former Baltimore Oriole might have been a fluke when he broke through in 2014, but his 2015 season nixed that idea. And though it was possible to question if Arrieta‘s efforts last season took too much out of him, for now the answer is “not yet.”

If it stays that way, this enormously hyped Cubs team might just be the championship contender the masses want it to be. 

The Cubs may have the best lineup in the National League—if not all of Major League Baseball—but the road to their first World Series title in 108 years is going to go through NL aces like Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Gerrit Cole and Adam Wainwright. If Arrieta can remain his best self, the Cubs will have just the guy to match up against them.

After what he did Monday night, the Cubs must be feeling confident in Arrieta‘s ability to be that guy. Now all he has to do is do it another 35-40 times, and they’ll be on their way.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is dealing with a blister on his right throwing hand, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. However, he is not expected to miss time during the regular reason.

Continue for updates.

Maddon Comments on Arrieta Blister

Sunday, March 27

Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM noted on Sunday that Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Arrieta will be good to go for Opening Day against the Los Angeles Angels.

“As of right now, it seems to be pretty good,” Maddon said of Arrieta‘s blister on Saturday, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

“(Trainer) P.J. Mainville feels very strongly that’s he’ll be fine. He thought it was a lot better immediately the next day. So let’s just see what happens. When (a blister developed Thursday), we didn’t jump to any conclusions. Just play it all the way through.”

On Friday, Maddon expressed concern over the blister:

“[Blisters] can become more chronic and you don’t want that to happen,” Maddon said, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Opening Day is very prestigious. So’s winning the World Series.”

“We don’t want to lose him, we don’t want to miss him, but I don’t think it’s anything awful,” Maddon said on March 24, per Muskat. 

Cubs Pitching Coach Discusses Arrieta

Sunday, March 27

Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com noted that “Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio calls [Arrieta‘s] blister a ‘complete nonissue‘ after Sunday’s side session.”

Arrieta Comments on Blister

Friday, March 25

“It’s good, we’re good,” Arrieta said, per Levine. “No one’s dying.”

“It really won’t be a problem at all,” Arrieta noted, according to Muskat. “It really wasn’t even a blister. From the environment here, the skin, having to deal with dry skin, cracking all that stuff, it’s just managing it. Once we get out of Arizona, it’ll no longer be an issue at all.”

“[We] noticed in the bullpen I was having a hard time with it,” Arrieta added, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “No point in staying out there and having the same thing happen over and over again to each hitter.”

Arrieta Developed Into League’s Best Pitcher in 2015

Arrieta got off to a rocky start in his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles before coming to Chicago and lighting it up over the past two years. The 30-year-old veteran has a tale of resilience that can leave quite an impression on a Cubs clubhouse filled with supremely talented youngsters.

Arrieta posted a 22-6 record and a 1.77 ERA last season to help the Cubs to the National League Championship Series. In his first two playoff starts, Arrieta defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a complete-game shutout and won his next time out against the St. Louis Cardinals.

There’s little cause for concern regarding Arrieta‘s long-term outlook in what figures to be a rather insignificant injury. His troubles in Baltimore stemmed from injuries and control problems, which have seldom surfaced with the exception of Thursday, when again, he was dealing with a mere blister.

Shoulder tightness loomed before the 2014 campaign for Arrieta, but he wound up fine en route to a 10-5 record with a 2.53 ERA. He’s been quite durable since arriving in the Windy City, so there’s no reason to press him back into action.

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