Jake Arrieta’s bid for a second straight no-hitter was dashed on his fifth pitch. His Wrigley Field scoreless streak ended at 52 2/3 innings.
He also won his 16th consecutive decision, the longest streak in the major leagues in more than a decade.
”I was a little flat today,” the NL Cy Young Award winner said Thursday after leading the Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.
Chicago improved to 16-5, its best 21-game start since opening 1907 at 17-4.
”Our most important ballgames are still ahead of us,” Arrieta said. ”We’re still lined up pretty well.”
Arrieta (5-0) gave up one run, three hits and four walks in five innings – the first run he allowed at home since July 25. Alex Presley’s fifth-inning RBI double ended Arrieta’s home scoreless streak at 52 2/3 innings, four outs shy of Ray Herbert’s major league record set with the Chicago White Sox in 1962-63.