MLB

Scott Kazmir Outduels Jake Arrieta as Dodgers Defeat Cubs 5-0

Scott Kazmir outpitched reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-0 on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

CHICAGO – It was a good ol' fashioned pitchers' duel at Wrigley Field.

Scott Kazmir outpitched reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-0 on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Adrian Gonzalez hit an RBI single in the eighth and Corey Seager crushed a three-run home run in the ninth as the Dodgers became the first team since the Philadelphia Phillies and Cole Hamels no-hit the Cubs on July 25, 2015 to beat Chicago in a game that Arrieta pitched.

"That's the great thing about baseball," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts told the media about ending the streak. "That's why you play nine innings. To beat the Cubs on a day Arrieta starts was a huge lift for us."

Before Tuesday, The Cubs had won the last 23 games that Arrieta had started dating back to last season, but Kazmir was able to match Arrieta pitch-for-pitch as each pitcher exchanged zeros through the first six frames.

Kazmir had his best pitching performance of the season, allowing no runs with just one hit and seven strikeouts in six superb innings against the best lineup in baseball. 

"I ran into a little bit of trouble early on, but I really locked in after I hit Rizzo," Kazmir told reporters. "Going into this game you know you can't make too many mistakes, so this was a big win for us."

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Arrietta loaded the bases with three consecutive walks in the top of the seventh, but struck out pinch-hitter, Justin Turner, on three straight pitches to end the inning. It was Arrieta's 14th consecutive time he retired the last batter with the bases loaded dating back to June of 2015. 

Arrieta exited the game after the inning, recording a no decision as the Dodgers denied the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner his 10 victory. Arrieta allowed no runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and four walks in seven strong innings. 

The boys in blue finally broke through off the Cubs' bullpen in the top of the eighth inning when Clayton Richard surrendered three straight singles to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Adam Warren relieved Richard, and served up two sacrifice flies to Joc Pederson and Howie Kendrick to give LA a much-needed insurance run.

"That was a huge hit for us and then to get the sac fly from Howie," Seager said. "That became a huge inning for us."

Warren ran into trouble in the ninth though, as he allowed back-to-back singles to Carl Crawford and Enrique Hernandez to lead off the inning. Trevor Cahill took over for Warren, but Seager smashed a 92 MPH slider into the right field bleacher seats to put the Dodgers over the top.

"I was just looking for something to hit in the air to get an extra insurance run across," Seager told Alanna Rizzo of SportsNetLA after the game. "Luckily, I hit it out."

One day after the Cubs' pitching staff combined to hold the Dodgers to one-hit, LA returned the favor as Kazmir, Joe Blanton and Adam Liberatore held Chicago to just one-hit on the night. 

Players of the Game:

Corey Seager: 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and two runs scored.
Scot Kazmir:
0 runs on 1 hit with 7 strikeouts in 6 IP.
Jake Arrieta: 0 runs on 2 hits with 8 strikeouts in 7 IP. 

Three Takeaways:

1. LA Solves Arrieta Puzzle: The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team since the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25, 2015 to defeat the Chicago Cubs in a game that Jake Arrieta started. The Cubs had won the last 23 games that Arrieta started with the last loss coming on a no-hitter by Cole Hamels at Wrigley Field.

2. The Strikeout Club: Scott Kazmir had seven strikeouts, bringing his total for the month of May to 46. He joins Clayton Kershaw (65) and Alex Wood (41) as the first Dodgers' trio to record 40+ strikeouts in a month since Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres did it in July of 1963.

3. Happy Birthday, Doc: Los Angeles Dodgers' first-year manager Dave Roberts celebrated his 44th birthday on Tuesday.

Up Next:
Dodgers (28-25): Mike Bolsinger makes his third start of the season on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

Cubs (35-15): Lefty ace, Jon Lester heads to the hill for Chicago at 5:05 PM PST.

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