Arrieta leads Cubs into Steel City
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(SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Arrieta has had one bad inning this season, but it was enough to take a loss last time out and even his record.
The Chicago right-hander hopes for some better luck on Monday night when the Cubs open up a four-game series with the rival Pittsburgh Pirates.
After throwing seven scoreless innings to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on April 8, Arrieta took a 3-2 loss versus the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. He gave up all three runs in the fourth inning on a series of singles and yielded seven hits in all while striking out five over 6 2/3 innings.
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"I think there was three or four balls that squeaked through," said Arrieta, who has a 1.98 earned run average over his two starts. "They were able to put some runs up on those. Aside from that I was able to limit the damage."
The 29-year-old is unbeaten against the Pirates, going 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in four starts.
Pittsburgh starter A.J. Burnett can relate to the rough luck as he has given up just three runs over his first two starts, but has a loss and a no- decision to show for it.
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The 38-year-old righty gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings last Tuesday versus Detroit, but suffered a 2-0 loss. He pitched shutout ball until allowing a run in the seventh.
"I felt strong. Delivery got out of whack in the seventh a little bit," said Burnett. "Up until those walks, I held it together pretty good."
Burnett is 7-4 lifetime versus the Cubs with a 3.25 ERA in 13 games.
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The veteran hurler looks to extend the Pirates' winning streak to four games as they swept the Milwaukee Brewers in three games over the weekend. Pittsburgh won a 5-2 decision in Sunday's finale as Pedro Alvarez hit a go- ahead solo homer in the third inning and Chris Stewart later drove in a pair of runs.
Gerrit Cole hurled six innings of two-run ball, striking out six to lead Pittsburgh to its fifth victory in seven games.
"I was able to make some adjustments as we got deeper into the ballgame," said Cole. "I started locating my fastball better and I think that kept them off- balance."
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The Cubs, meanwhile, are coming off their first series loss of the season as they dropped two of three to the San Diego Padres to split a six-game homestand.
Jon Lester gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings in Sunday's 5-2 loss and needed 97 pitches to complete his outing.
Jorge Soler and Chris Coghlan had RBI hits for the Cubs and Kris Bryant's double in the fifth was the first extra-base hit of his career. The highly- regarded rookie is 3-for-10 with an RBI, three walks and four strikeouts over his first three major league games.
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The Pirates went 14-5 versus the Cubs last season, winning seven of 10 at home.