Arrieta rolls but Cubs lose Heyward to injury
Photo by Mark Rebilas / USATODAY

Arrieta rolls but Cubs lose Heyward to injury


by - Senior Editor -

San Francisco - Jake Arrieta dominated once again in an 8-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, but it might be a costly win for Chicago as Jason Heyward had to leave the game with an injury.

In the first inning, Heyward made a spectacular catch and then crashed into the right-center field wall. Heyward rolled over in obvious pain but held on to the ball before grabbing his right side. He walked off the field under his own power after a few minutes under the supervision of the team athletic trainer. The team said Heyward is being evaluated for an injury to his right torso/abdomen region.

Heyward is batting .225, 1 HR, 14 RBI for the season after signing a eight-year, $184 million contract with the Cubs in the offseason, but his bat had shown signs of breaking out as of late. If the Cubs lose Heyward for any significant time it would be a big blow especially defensively.

The Giants had no answer for Arrieta (8-0, 1.29) who pitched seven innings striking out eight and giving up just one run. The Cubs have won Arrieta’s last 22 starts, extending a franchise record that surpassed 17-straight by Ed Reulbach (1906-07) and Pat Luby (1890-91). The Cubs have also gone 48 straight games dating back to last season where their starter has pitched at least five innings.

The Cubs got all the runs they would need in the second. Arrieta and Tommy LaStella had back-to-back RBI singles before Kris Bryant launched a 3-run homer into the left field stands. Giant starter Jake Peavy (1-5, 8.21) wouldn't make it out the inning and left after giving up 5 runs and 7 hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Ben Zobrist added a solo home run in the eighth inning that landed in the waters of McCovey Cove. Two pitches later Jorge Soler would hit a 407-foot homer to deep left.

Cubs and Giants will play game two of this three-game series on Saturday as Jon Lester (4-2, 1.88) takes on Matt Cain (0-5, 5.87) at 6:15 PM CT.

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