Castro went 3-for-5 with a double in the Cubs’ 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is now batting. Didn’t feel like we were really ready to play. “That’s what we preach”. This now marks the sixth ho-hitter of this 2015 season.
Last year, Arrieta became the first Cubs pitcher since 1950 to take a no-hitter into the seventh inning three times in the same season. He joins the short list with Houston Astros Mike Fiers, 3-0, August 21, against the Dodgers.
Like having a player pajama party on the flight home from Los Angeles.
“It’s baseball”, Gonzalez said. You think about it. It’s nearly impossible not to.
The Cubs are 6-4 in their last 10 games, but they put the “wild” in wild card and seem assured of getting into the playoffs that way in the crowded National League Central.
Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter had one close call: Kike Hernandez’s hard-hit ball to Starlin Castro in the third inning that the Dodger Stadium official scorer ruled an error.
“It was knowing”, he said, “I’m capable of really good things”.
White gave the error after Castro tried to make the play on an in-between hop.
“I think it will be more special the longer it sets in”, Arrieta said.
With that in mind, let’s hope this is where the ball drops and the horrific performances at the plate come to a halt. “I asked five of their players when they were on the bases and they all thought it was a hit”. Perhaps it is also why it was not a surprise to see Arrieta strike out Justin Turner, Jimmy Rollins and Utley in the ninth, sealing his first no-hitter, continuing what is by far the best season of his career. “He said it was a hit”. Then in the seventh, Castro speared left fielder Carl Crawford’s line drive with one hand. It was the first no-hitter for Chicago since Carlos Zambrano shut down the Houston Astros back on September 14, 2008, which was the franchise’s first no-hitter since 1972. The Dodgers lost and had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Yankees 20, Braves 6 – Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three-run homer, Chase Headley and Stephen Drew each added a two-run shot, and New York routed host Atlanta to finish a three-game sweep. The Dodgers, missing right-handed sock with Yasiel Puig and Howie Kendrick on the disabled list, aren’t exactly casting a menacing presence in the batter’s box lately. The stuff was good, commanded the ball well. “Make one bad pitch to Kris Bryant and it bites you in the butt”. He threw a no-hitter.
The arrival of the Giants on Monday for a three-game series should help with that. Though they could only muster two runs for the starting pitcher, they wore out the opposing Dodgers yet again.
In the Dodgers’ dugout, starter Alex Wood, a 24-year-old with two years in the majors, studied Arrieta. He leads the majors with a 66.9 groundball percentage, inducing 307 grounders this season.
The Rays’ bullpen combined for four shutout innings, with Xavier Cedeno (3-1) earning the win.