There has been a lot of speculation as to whether Jake Arrieta should be in Chicago with the Cubs or down at triple A Iowa, I think that he proved he belongs in the big leagues today after shutting out a powerful Cardinal lineup over seven strong innings in which he only gave up two hits and struck out seven batters on his way to helping the Cubs to a 7-0 victory.
James Russell and Blake Parker each went one inning, and aside from the walk that Parker gave up in the ninth, there were no blemishes to be found.
After being shutout in three of the last four home games, the Cubs finally decided it was time to score some runs. They started early when Nate Schierholtz singled to center field to score David DeJesus and Junior Lake. Later in the first, Donnie Murphy singled to left field to drive in Anthony Rizzo and that was all Arrieta would need.
However, the Cubs would get more in the fifth inning when Schierholtz hit a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Junior Lake. That gave Schierholtz three RBI’s for the day. In the sixth Darwin Barney had a huge double to left center field that would score Murphy, Barney advanced to third on a throwing error by shortstop Daniel Descalso. Arrieta was the next batter and the suicide squeeze was on, Arrieta placed a perfect bunt down in between pitcher Jake Westbrook and third basemen David Freese that would allow Barney to score. Anthony Rizzo would score on a wild pitch in the seventh to cap off the scoring for the north siders.
The visiting Cardinals only had two hits on the day and those two came from right fielder Carlos Beltran, he had a double and a single and seemed to be the only one that wasn’t phased by Arrieta’s stuff.
Jake Westbrook was the starter for the Cards, he went six and two thirds innings, gave up eight hits, seven runs, with just six being earned, he also walked five and struck out just two.
Murphy, Barney, and Welington Castillo all had two hits for the Cubs. Barney and Murphy each also drove in a run a piece.
The Cubs needed a game like this where they blow it wide open and get an easy victory after their struggles at home in the recent past, hopefully this is a sign of things to come, especially at Wrigley Field.
The series will continue tomorrow, same time, same place, 3:05 PM CT at Wrigley Field. The fans will be treated to a pitching match-up of, Joe Kelly (3-3) for the Cardinals and Travis Wood (7-9) for the Cubs.