Jake Arrieta pitched his second no-hitter and the Cubs hit five home runs to maul the Reds 16-0.
Arrieta, who also had two hits and a walk, threw a no-hitter last August 30 in a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles. Arrieta walked four batters. He struck out six. Arrieta threw 119 pitches, 71 for strikes.
"Every pitcher at this level has to expect certain things out of yourself," Arrieta said. "You have to be realistic in the sense that they guys on the other side are good too. Every once in awhile you're going to get beat and have an off night but the preparation allows the success to happen naturally. Even though you can't dictate the results, you can play a big part. I feel like I have a good chance to win every time I take the mound. Tonight was no different."
Arrieta was not sharp in the early innings and threw a lot of pitches. He walked Jay Bruce in the second, Eugenio Suarez, who David Ross, the catcher picked off, in the fourth and Scott Schebler in the sixth and ninth.
"I came out with shaky command of pretty much all of my pitches," Arrieta said. "I was using them none the less. As the game went on I got a little more comfortable. I was pitching to contact pretty well. I got a lot of ground ball outs. The timing was off from start to finish. I was just able to lock it in big situations and pile up outs pretty quickly."
Arrieta had just 11 regular season starts between this no-hitter and the one against the Dodgers last year.
"I feels different the second time," Arrieta said. "I was a little more relaxed as the game progressed. The way I threw the ball before the game started, I anticipated that I'd have to grind through some at-bats and some innings a little bit more than I did. I was able to get the ball in to left-handers for some called strikes, then go below the strike zone to get some swings and misses. You put it all together and have conviction with what you're doing and good things can happen."
Former Red, Ross homered off Tim Melville in the sixth inning which made the score 6-0. Ross has already declared this his last season. Ross played for the Reds in 2006, 2007 and part of 2008, appearing in 254 games. He can take catching a no-hitter off his bucket list.
"This feels amazing. It was one of my dreams," Ross said. "That stud made it all come true. He was in control the whole time. He is capable of doing that every time out. That's why he won the Cy Young. Nothing fazes him."
"For me that's why this is so special," Arrieta said. "In his last year, I don't think he's ever caught one. I think he's been on a team that was no hit but was never on the winning said, except for last year that Miggy (Miguel Montero) caught. For him in his last season to have that experience for him is pretty awesome."
The Reds had not been no-hit in the regular season since Rick Wise no-hit the Reds 4-0, June 23, 1971 at Riverfront Stadium. Wise also hit two home runs in that game. The Reds played 7,109 games without being no-hit during the regular season.
Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies threw a no-hitter against the Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 Division Series in Philadelphia.
Three weeks earlier the Cubs' Ken Holtzman, no-hit the Reds on June 3, 1-0.
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Kris Bryant hit two home runs, including a grand slam to tie his career high with six RBI.
Brandon Finnegan pitched 6 2/3 innings without allowing a hit againsl the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Ross broke it up with a single.
On Thursday, Dexter Fowler hit the first pitch of the game over Scott Schebler's head in centerfield for a double. Kris Bryant hit his third home run of the season one out later. Ben Zobrist hit his first home run on the year, leading off the second. Fowler beat out a would-be double play ball to allow the Cubs fourth run to score. Ross walked and advanced to third on Arrieta's second hit. Schebler's throw was high and Finnegan caught it as the back up man. When Finnegan's low throw bounced away from Votto, Ross scored the Cubs' fifth run. Anthony Rizzo hit a three-run home run off Melville to make it 9-0.
Kris Bryant spoiled Drew Hayes Major League debut with a grand slam in the seventh inning to make the score 13-0.
The Reds had just the four base runners and felt helpless.
"It's tough. We got dominated," Bruce said. "It's the most dominating baseball game, I've ever been a part of. Obviously, he was great. We weren't. The news and the talking points are no hits and all the runs scored but in the end we lost. We've got to keep going. There is nothing you can do about it now. We were dominated."
Bruce was one of the few base runners.
"I try to remove myself from results," Bruce said. "I'm looking for a pitch I can hit and he didn't give one to me that at-bat. I got two that I could hit I hit the one to centerfield and fouled one off. He was wild enough, effective and we didn't have an answer. Every time he goes out, he's got no-hit stuff. We hit some balls hard but he's arguably one of the best pitchers in the game, right now. He had it all going."
It was the most lopsided no-hitter since August 4, 1884 when Pud Galvin of the Buffalo Bisons no-hit the Detroit Wolverines.
"You tell me what you're feeling," Bryan Price told a TV videographer. "If your a Reds' fan, it's probably not the same but it's miserable. As good as Arrieta was nobody wants to be embarrassed. Nobody wants to be no-hit. Nobody wants to be a part of giving up 16 runs. There wasn't a game that someone is going to look back on for any redeeming values, other than hoping to forget it as soon as possible. Or maybe remember it as a motivating force."
Dating back to last season the Cubs are 17-2 in their last 19 road games.
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