Arrieta, Cubs Dominate Braves to Even Series

It was apparent from the very beginning, just as it should be, that the Chicago Cubs (42-18) were hungry for a win. Jason Heyward made sure of it when he belted a 1-1 fastball over the fence in right field. That made the score 1-0, Cubs, right out of the box.

Fast forward to the fourth inning, and the Cubs jumped up and down on the Braves. Anthony Rizzo creamed a laser-shot over the right center field wall. It didn’t end there. Following the Rizzo homer, Ben Zobrist and, newly acquired, Chris Coghlan both singled to set the stage for a Miguel Montero 3-run blast.

Kris Bryant added a line-drive, 2-run home run in the top of the fifth inning and the rout was on. The Cubs cruise to the win by the score of 8-2 (Box Score).

Give Jake Arrieta eight runs and you can slam the door. He showed good command of his pitches and gave up only two runs on four hits.

Stats that mattered

• Four. That’s the number of home runs hit by the Cubs.
• Jake was back to his old self – 7IP, 2R, 4H, 2Ks, oh and he went 2-for-3 at the plate scoring one run – his season average is now .276 – seriously, what can’t he do??
• Jason Heyward continues to make strides – over his last six games he’s slashing .300/.391/.650 including a 178 wRC+. He finished the night 3-for-5, 2R, 1RBI, including his first inning home run
• Kris Bryant continues his great season – 2-for-4, 1R, 2RBIs, 1BB including a two-run home run

Bottom line

The home run ball led the Cubs to a big win on Saturday and, again, it’s feast or famine. We mentioned it in our postgame report after Friday’s loss, for the most part they are an offensive power house. Tonight is an excellent example of that.

The Cubs still lead the league with 255 bases on balls but are 16th in the league over the last 30 days. So, to a degree, it seems that their plate discipline has fallen off a bit, which is likely a contributing factor to the ‘famine’ part of the equation.

Next up

The Cubs close out the series against the Braves on Sunday at 12:35 PM CDT. Jon Lester (7-3, 2.06 ERA) will take the mound in the finale.