Arrieta strong again for Chicago Cubs in 8-3 victory
The Chicago Cubs rallied from a 5½-game deficit at the all-star break on the resurgence of their starting pitching.
They moved into first place by themselves Wednesday night on yet another strong start by Jake Arrieta during an 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Arrieta did not give up a hit to the White Sox until Omar Narvaez bounced a double over the wall in right-center field with one out in the fifth inning.
Arrieta's night ended with two outs in the seventh, when he gave up a solo homer to Yoan Moncada, Moncada's first major-league homer.
Since the break, Cubs starters are 9-0 in 12 games with a 2.50 ERA, and Arrieta had turned in 3 of the team's 8 quality starts.
With the Milwaukee Brewers losing at Washington, the Cubs (53-47) moved into first place by one-half game, and to hear Arrieta tell it, that may just be the start of things.
“We're feeling it,” he said after he ran his record to 10-7 with a 4.03 ERA. “I remember last year when we were in this clubhouse around this same time. It's no different. We expect to remain in first place throughout the remainder of the way.
“We know it's going to be a tough task. That's kind of what you deal with at the highest level of sports. You expect to have really good competition from teams that are either with you or close behind. We feel like we have the group to separate ourselves at this point in time.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon agreed that Arrieta's fastball command is helping him.
“Jake was really good again,” Maddon said. “I thought he had much better fastball command. He primarily pitched with his fastball. Threw a couple of curveballs to Moncada, and (Moncada) got him in the end. But overall I thought he pitched well. It looked more effortless. The ball was going where he wanted it to go, which always a good sign. He was very good.”
White Sox starting pitcher James Shields held the Cubs hitless through 3⅓ innings before Anthony Rizzo singled and later scored on a single by Kyle Schwarber.
In the fifth, the Cubs sent nine men to the plate and scored 4 runs, 3 coming home on Rizzo's double to the base of the center-field wall.
The Cubs did make some lineup changes for the game. In the American League park, they used Schwarber as the designated hitter. After getting a day off Tuesday, Jason Heyward returned to right field and to the leadoff spot.
The biggest change was that Maddon gave a day off to hot-hitting catcher Willson Contreras in favor of rookie Victor Caratini. Contreras entered the night batting .347 in July with 7 homers and 18 RBI.
“The big thing is just receiving Jake because the ball does move that much,” Maddon said. “I'm running out of options to give Willson a day off with (Jon) Lester pitching tomorrow and of course playing Milwaukee this weekend.
“I have enough faith in Victor. I've talked about that before. I anticipate a good game, both offensively and defensively from him. It is what it is, man. I have a lot of faith in the guy.”
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