Jake Arrieta: Game By Game Rundown Of His Historic Winning Streak

Jake Arrieta’s winning streak has finally come to an end. For the first time in more than 10 months, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner lost a regular season game after the Arizona Diamondbacks hung a loss on Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs in Sunday’s series finale at Wrigley Field. The loss ends a streak of 24 straight games that Arrieta has pitched without taking a defeat. In that time, Arrieta won 20 consecutive games while taking four no-decisions.

Before Sunday, Jake Arrieta’s last loss came at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25 of last year when Cole Hamels, a former World Series MVP, threw the first no-hitter of his career to defeat Arrieta and the Cubs, 5-0. Arrieta threw six innings that afternoon, allowing three runs on six hits. The 24-game streak would begin with his next start five days later.

• July 30, 2015, at Milwaukee: Jake Arrieta would take a no-decision on this day, allowing two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out five in the Cubs’ 5-2 win. He wouldn’t take another no-decision in his next eight outings.
• August 4, 2015, at Pittsburgh: In what would be the first of his 20 consecutive wins, Jake Arrieta threw seven strong innings in the Cubs’ 5-0 victory at PNC Park. The Pirates would only manage just two hits against Arrieta. He threw 109 pitches, walked three, and struck out five.
• August 9, 2015, vs San Francisco: Jake Arrieta would throw 107 pitches his next time out, once again allowing zero runs as the Giants had four scattered hits against him in his 7-and-two-thirds innings of work. He walked two and added six more strikeouts as the Cubs knocked off the Giants, 2-0.
• August 15, 2015, at Chicago White Sox: Pitching across town against the rival White Sox, Jake Arrieta notched his third win in a row, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking two and punching out five South Siders in 6-and-two-thirds innings. The North Siders would prevail, 6-3.
• August 20, 2015, vs Atlanta: Jake Arrieta’s dominance continued against the Atlanta Braves as he threw six innings of shutout baseball while giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out seven on 107 pitches in a 7-1 win.
• August 25, 2015, at San Francisco: In the second of three wins against San Francisco during this streak, Jake Arrieta gave up just one unearned run at AT&T Park that day. He struck out eight Giants and walked just one in the Cubs’ 8-5 victory.
• August 30, 2015, at Los Angeles Dodgers: History came calling for Jake Arrieta on this night in Los Angeles as he pitched the first no-hitter of his career in a nationally televised contest which the Cubs won, 2-0. Arrieta was masterful that evening, barely missing a perfect game after allowing just one walk while striking out a season-high 12.

• September 5, 2015, vs Arizona: Jake Arrieta would follow up his no-no with yet another amazing performance, this time against the Arizona Diamondbacks. On this day at Wrigley, he picked up his seventh straight win with eight more innings of shutout baseball, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out seven in the Cubs’ 2-0 win.
• September 11, 2015, at Philadelphia: Jake Arrieta would exact his revenge on the Phillies by giving up just one run on six hits in eight innings of work in the Cubs’ 5-1 triumph. He picked up seven more strikeouts in the process and walked two.
• September 16, 2015, at Pittsburgh: Jake Arrieta didn’t pick up the win on this night, but he still gave his team a chance to win in Pittsburgh, which they did by a score of 3-2. Arrieta took a no-decision after throwing eight innings of six-hit, two-run baseball and added five strikeouts and walked just one batter.
• September 22, 2015, vs Milwaukee: Jake Arrieta was determined to get back to his winning ways in this matchup with Milwaukee and did so with authority, throwing a complete-game shutout as the Cubs got a 4-0 win. Arrieta struck out 11 batters while walking only one as the Brewers were only able to gather three scattered hits.
• September 27, 2015, vs Pittsburgh: Jake Arrieta has become a villain of sorts to Pirates fans and it’s performances like these that made that happen. Arrieta allowed only one hit in seven innings, walked none and struck out nine on just 84 pitches in a 4-0 win.
• October 2, 2015, at Milwaukee: Jake Arrieta’s final regular season start of 2015 was another scoreless performance as he threw six innings of shutout ball against the Brewers. He threw just 72 pitches that day and once again gave up no walks and added seven more strikeouts.

It should be noted that Jake Arrieta did lose a playoff game. After an incredible performance against Pittsburgh in the National League Wild Card game, followed by a win against the Cardinals in the NLDS, Arrieta was finally overpowered in a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. However, since postseason stats are kept separate from a player’s career totals, this did not count against the streak. Jake Arrieta would resume his regular season domination in the Cubs’ season opener against the Angels.

• April 4, 2016, at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The 2016 regular season began with a 9-0 Cubs win behind yet another shutout performance from Jake Arrieta, who allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out six in seven strong innings of work.
• April 10, 2016, at Arizona: Jake Arrieta threw seven more innings in his next outing, which resulted in a 7-3 Cubs win. It was rare to see a team hit two home runs against him, which the Diamondbacks did that night as he gave up three runs on eight hits. He didn’t walk anybody that night and struck out six on 99 pitches.
• April 16, 2016, vs Colorado: The Rockies were finally victimized during the streak as Jake Arrieta once again gave up zero runs in eight innings at Wrigley Field. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight in the Cubs’ 6-2 win.
• April 21, 2016, at Cincinnati: History came calling once again on this day as Jake Arrieta threw his second no-hitter. The Reds were the victims on this night at Great American Ball Park as Arrieta walked four and struck out six as the Cubs beat down the Reds, 16-0.

• April 28, 2016, vs Milwaukee: After consecutive scoreless outings, Jake Arrieta showed he was human once again by giving up a run. Arrieta only went five innings against the Brewers and was pulled after throwing 92 pitches. However, it was enough to pick up his 16th consecutive win as the Cubs got a 7-2 victory. He matched his no-hitter totals with four walks and six strikeouts.
• May 3, 2016, at Pittsburgh: Making yet another appearance during the streak are the Pittsburgh Pirates. On this day, Jake Arrieta once again shut them down by allowing zero runs and just two hits while walking two and striking out five in the Cubs’ 7-1 win.
• May 8, 2016, vs Washington: The third no-decision during the streak came on this day against the Washington Nationals. Jake Arrieta once again pitched just five innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits. He struck out seven and walked four but it was enough to pick up the win, his 17th straight, as the Cubs triumphed, 4-3.
• May 14, 2016, vs Pittsburgh: The Pirates got it one more time as Jake Arrieta threw eight more great innings against the Bucs, allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out a season-high 11 as the Cubs trounced the Pirates, 8-2.
• May 20, 2016, at San Francisco: Jake Arrieta was sharp on this Friday night in the Bay Area, allowing just one run on four hits while walking two and striking out eight in the Cubs’ 8-1 win over the Giants.
• May 25, 2016, at St. Louis: Consecutive win number 20 would come against the Cubs’ biggest rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, as Jake Arrieta went five innings in a crazy 9-8 win at Busch Stadium. He allowed four runs in a regular season game for the first time since June 16 of last year against the Cleveland Indians. The Cards got seven hits as well. Arrieta walked one and struck out four.
• May 31, 2016, vs Los Angeles Dodgers: Facing the Dodgers for the first time since his no-hitter, Jake Arrieta once again allowed zero runs but did give up two hits in seven strong innings. He also struck out eight while walking four. However, the Cubs’ offense went silent and the bullpen struggled as the Cubs lost 5-0, marking the first time in 23 games that the Cubs did not pick up a victory when Arrieta was on the mound.

In this amazing 24-game stretch, Jake Arrieta’s stats are absolutely incredible. He threw 2,494 pitches in 169 and one-third innings, gave up just 23 runs (19 earned) on 88 hits while walking 88 and striking out 170. He went 20-0 with a mind-blowing 1.01 ERA.

Jake Arrieta will attempt to begin a new winning streak as the Cubs visit the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

[Photo by David Banks/Getty Images]