Arrieta Dominates Giants, Cubs Beat San Francisco 8-1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants couldn't get anything going against Jake Arrieta. Then again, no team has in the regular season since last July.
Arietta won his 19th consecutive decision Friday night, limiting the Giants to four hits and one walk while striking out eight in seven innings as the Chicago Cubs won 8-1 to snap San Francisco's eight-game winning streak.
Jake Peavy (1-5) allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings. He threw 55 pitches.
"(Peavy) was just missing his spots tonight, his pitch count I'm sure caught up with him," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Peavy gave up a three-run homer to Kris Bryant that highlighted Chicago's five-run outburst in the second inning and broke open a 2-0 game.
"He had two outs, two strikes and it's a 2-0 ballgame, that's a game at that point, but you get down five against Arietta and it's an uphill climb," Bochy said.
After Bryant's homer, Anthony Rizzo chased Peavy with a single to right that snapped his streak of 13 consecutive hitless at-bats.
"In this game you revel at the chance to face the game's best," Peavy said of facing Arrieta. "And when you don't do what you're capable of doing it's upsetting."
The Cubs have won Arrieta's last 22 starts going back to last season, with their ace going 19-0 in that stretch. Chicago also won on the road for the 24th time in 29 games.
Bryant finished 2 for 5 with four RBIs.
Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward left the game in the bottom of the first inning after crashing into the rigth field wall on a diving catch. He chased a shot over his head off the bat of Denard Span, robbing the Giants' leadoff man of extra bases on the third pitch he saw from Arrieta (8-0).
"The first hitter of the game, something like that, I'm at a loss for words," Arrieta said of Heyward's diving catch in the deepest part of the ballpark.
"That's an amazing catch. What he's capable with the glove in the outfield, it's amazing. I think he'll be just fine. A little sore, but I hope he's back as soon as possible."
Heyward is under evaluation for an injury to his right torso abdominal region, the Cubs said.
"He'll get an MRI in the morning," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. "We don't know anything yet. That might have been the game right there. He threw caution to the wind. That could have been an inside the park home run and they have a different mentality."
Arrieta retired 13 of the last 16 batters he faced after allowing Joe Panik's two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the third — just the second run Arrieta has allowed through the first three innings this season.
"That's what he's been doing," Maddon said. "Makes pitches when he has to. His stuff is so good, even without his good command, he can be productive."
Albert Suarez, among five relievers Bochy summoned, threw three shutout innings of no-hit ball.
"What a great job that kid did," Bochy said. "We just couldn't get the offense going."
Ben Zobrist homered into McCovey Cove for his sixth homer, becoming just the 38th opposing player and the second Cubs player (Corey Patterson is the other) to reach San Francisco Bay's waters with a "splash hit." Zobrist's homer extended his hitting streak to seven games and his on-base streak in games in which he's started to 26.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
The Giants held a moment of silence before Friday's game honoring former third baseman Jim Ray Hart, who died on Thursday after a long illness in Acampo, California, the team said. Hart played for the Giants from 1963 to 1973. He was named to the NL All-Star team in 1966 and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1964.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: OF Matt Szczur, on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, began a rehab assignment on Thursday with Double-A Tennessee, going 1 for 2 with a walk, a run and a strikeout. Friday's Smokies' game was rained out. Szczur was eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday.
Giants: RHP Sergio Romo, out since April 15 with a strained right hip flexor, threw 24 pitches in an extended spring training game on Friday, manager Bruce Bochy said. Romo will start a rehab assignment at triple-A Sacramento on Saturday is expected to be activated within two weeks.
UP NEXT
Cubs: LHP Jon Lester (4-2) has allowed one or fewer runs in six of eight starts. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning his last time out against Pittsburgh (a 2-1 Pirates victory in which he was tagged with the loss). Lester is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA against the Giants.
Giants: RHP Matt Cain (0-5) has a 1.80 ERA with 13 strikeouts and two walks over his last two starts.In his previous six starts he was 0-4 with a 7.84 ERA. Cain is 6-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 17 games against the Cubs.
(© 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)