Crowd reaction gets Arrieta's attention

The ovation was long and loud for Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta as he came out of Sunday's 2-0 victory over the Giants with two outs in the eighth inning.

In the seventh, most in the Wrigley Field crowd of 39,939 were chanting, "Jake, Jake, Jake," as he retired the side in order.

Arrieta seemed heartened by the love.

"That's the best ovation I've had since the Fenway game last year," he said, referring to last June in Boston, where he went 7⅔ no-hit innings against the Red Sox.

"You guys probably saw me look around a little bit behind the plate and left field. That's a special feeling. That's why you play this game, for moments like that. I'm sure we're going to be fortunate enough to be in those types of situations even more often as the season continues to progress.

"It's kind of a position where you're speechless. You just try to enjoy it and take it in as much as you can."

Arrieta has 10 straight quality starts dating to June 21.

He hit Giants batter Nori Aoki on the front of the batting helmet with a pitch in the third. Aoki had to leave the game, but the Giants said he was OK.

"Outside of the game, we're all kind of in this together," Arrieta said. "You never want to see somebody get hit like that. Obviously not intentional, trying to go in with a cutter there.

"He's on the plate pretty good. It spun away from me a little bit and kind of bored in on him in that situation. I made (the Cubs) call over there and make sure he's OK. I heard he's doing well, and I hope he's back in the lineup tomorrow."

No big deal:

Giants pitcher Jake Peavy did not seem happy with Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber at one point, but there was no serious incident.

"I just asked him to get in the box, not kick dirt around out of the box," Peavy said. "I'm not trying to start anything. Just play baseball. We're in this pace-of-game thing."

This and that:

The Cubs have recorded three sweeps of four games this season. The Giants were swept in a four-game series at Wrigley Field for the first time since June 9-12, 1977. … Kris Bryant extended a hitting streak to seven games. He leads major-league rookies with 65 RBI. … Sunday's crowd of 39,939 brought the Cubs' season home total to 1,963,870.