by Boutros Boutros Ghali
After the 14-5 offensive onslaught the Cubs had against the D-Bags on Friday, there were high hopes for a bunch more runs in support of Jake Arrieta in his first start since no-hitting the Dodgers out in L.A. The Handsome Youngsters only gave Groundskeeper Willie two runs to work with in that game and apparently, that's all they are able to get when Jake is on the mound because they only put up 2 on Saturday as well.
Of course, that's all you need when Jake and his Kickass Beard are on the mound. The no-hit streak ended in the first inning for Arrieta, but he went 8 innings of shutout baseball to extend his no-runs streak to 18 straight innings dating back to the 7th inning in San Francisco on August 25th.
The D-Bags are one of the better offensive teams in the league and with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field on Saturday, it seemed like it could be a high scoring affair. Arrieta and Country Music Legend Robbie Ray Cyrus kept the balls in the park in a close game. Except it did not seem that close because Arrieta was taking care of business.
Paul Goldschmidt returned to the lineup after his baby making duties were completed and he immediately broke up the no-hitter with a two out single in the first inning. David Peralta was also able to reach base with a single, but Jake got out of the inning by striking out Saltalamacchia. Apparently, having that many letters on the back of your jersey slows you down a bit and hitting a 93 mph slider is hard.
Robbie Ray Cyrus did not really have a chance in this game with Arrieta not allowing the D-Bags to score. The Cubs broke through in the fourth inning with a Rizzo single, Baez walk (yep, Baez walked again. Look out MLB), and another single by Castro to load the bases.
Old Man Ross was catching Arrieta for the day and it was his turn to swing the bat with the bases loaded. He pounded the ball into the turf in front of the pitcher's mound making the ball bounce high into the air and over the pitcher's head. The second baseman Lamb had to wait for the ball to come down to field it and Rizzo scored from 3rd on the groundout.
That was all Arrieta would need, but Dexter Fowler smoked the first pitch he saw in the fifth inning to give Groundskeeper Willie an insurance run. It was the 16th homer of the year for the Fowl One who has never hit more than 13 in his career.
Other than the bases loaded in the 4th inning and the Fowler home run, the Handsome Youngsters gave their pitcher very little. Arrieta was so good though that the game never seemed to be in jeopardy. It was not until Rondon entered in the ninth inning that there even seemed a possibility that the Cubs could lose this game.
Ender's Game singled to start off the ninth inning versus Rondon and all of a sudden the tying run was at the plate. Luckily, Jackson Pollock slapped grounder to Bryant who tossed it to Baez and Baez went to Rizzo for the around the horn double play. Goldschlager got another hit, but Peralta grounded out to Anthony Rizzo and the game was over.
Cubs win 2-0 on the muscular back of Jake Arrieta. Pirates lost and the Cubs pulled to 3 games back in the WildCard.
For a few weeks we have been promoting Danny Rockett's GoFundMe page to record a Cubs Victory album. If you donate $25 dollars or more, you get to choose the topic of a song and be credited as a producer on the album. After Arrieta dropped the Dodgers with a dominance, the call came in for a Jake Arrieta song. Danny Rockett wrote and recorded The Ballad of Jake Arrieta this week as the first song on the album. If you want to be responsible for something as amazing as this song, click on the GoFundMe link at sonranto.com and tell Danny what Cubs themed song you would like.
Please share this song and video with everyone you know.
That's the Reckless Recap. Go Cubs!