The Chicago Cubs pitching staff has separated itself this season as one of the MLB’s best. Especially when it comes to the bullpen, where the team leads the MLB in ERA, at 2.63.
That was put on full display Thursday night in Los Angeles, as the Cubs put together a remarkable combined no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over the Dodgers.
It is the seventh no-hitter this season, marking the highest number before July 1 in baseball history.
The performance was a thing of beauty as the Dodgers seemed to be kept off-balance for the entirety of the contest.
Starter Zach Davies set the pace early, as he fired six innings of scoreless, hitless baseball. The only blemishes to his record were five walks over the first four innings, though not one Dodger base runner advanced past second with Davies on the mound. Remarkably, Davies was considered by many as one of the weaker starters in the Cubs’ rotation entering the contest, as he was coming off a nightmare of an outing against the Marlins on June 18, where he gave up eight runs over six innings. His 4.66 ERA entering the contest was cause for concern as well. But Thursday’s six innings varied greatly from the previous six he had thrown, as the righty had little trouble handling a typically high-scoring Dodger lineup.
Reinforcements arrived from the bullpen for the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, with manager David Ross making three separate pitching changes in an effort to keep the no-hitter intact. Ryan Tepara was the first to relieve Davies, and threw a three-up, three-down seventh, before southpaw Andrew Chafin took the ball in the eighth. Chafin followed suit, sending the next three Dodgers down in order. A walk was the only blemish to closer Craig Kimbrel’s stat line, as the closer was dependable as always, slamming the door shut in the ninth to close out the historic performance.
It was the 17th no-hitter in the franchise’s 145-year history.
The last time the Dodgers were no-hit? 2015 against the...Cubs. And who was on the mound? Jake Arrieta. While Arrieta was not on the mound Thursday, he will start today for the Cubs against Los Angeles.
On the other side, Dodgers starter Walker Buehler saw his historic winning streak come to an end. The lack of offense from his teammates’ bats, combined with home runs from Javier Baez and Wilson Contreras resulted in the 26-year-old’s first loss since Sept. 1, 2019.
Comentários