Pennant Pursuit: Jake Arrieta tosses eight shutout innings in win against Diamondbacks

Alec Brzezinski

Pennant Pursuit: Jake Arrieta tosses eight shutout innings in win against Diamondbacks image

Jake Arrieta added to his growing list of excellent performances Saturday when he tossed eight shutout innings in a 2-0 win against the Diamondbacks.

Arrieta picked up his MLB-best 18th win and continues to make a strong case for his first Cy Young award. This was also a spectacular way to back up his no-hitter on Sunday. With Saturday's performance, Arrieta has allowed just two earned runs in his past seven starts.

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"Regardless of the situation, you're trying to do the same thing," Arrieta said, via MLB.com. "I would have preferred to have not given up any hits."

The Cubs have a 7 1/2 game lead over the Nationals for the final wild-card spot in the National League, but Washington has won its past four games and could give Chicago some trouble if it struggles down the stretch.

The Nationals, however, won't be worried about the Cubs. They have climbed to within five games of the Mets in the NL East and the two teams will square off in a huge series starting Monday.

Gio Gonzalez led the Nationals on Saturday, throwing six scoreless innings — with 10 strikeouts — in an 8-2 win against the Braves. Bryce Harper led the way offensively, as he went 3 for 4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.

Star Performers:

AL:

Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a gem to upend the Astros 3-2 on Saturday. He allowed just one run in eight innings with 11 strikeouts. It's his second straight 10-plus strikeout outing, both against the Astros. The Twins remain 12 games behind the Royals in the AL Central, but are just 1 1/2 games behind the Rangers for the final wild-card slot.

NL:

Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime García pitched seven shutout innings in a 4-1 win against the Pirates. He added nine strikeouts and gave up just four hits. With the win, St. Louis (87-48) extended its lead in the NL Central to 6 1/2 games over Pittsburgh (80-54). Garcia has only allowed nine earned runs in seven starts since the beginning of August.

Plays of the Day:

Bartolo Colon scoops up the ball and completes a nifty behind-the-back toss to first base. He also tossed a complete-game shutout in a 7-0 win against the Marlins.

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts completed a Little League World Series-like grand slam:

Addison Russell lays out:

Nolan Arenado set a Rockies franchise record by hitting a home run in six straight games:

Reactions:

"That's awesome, it's been parts of seven seasons to get here," David Price said about his 100th win, via MLB.com. "It has been a lot of good games and I'm pumped for every one that I get."

"David's been doing that for a long time. We shouldn't feel like he's picking on us," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said via MLB.com.

Alec Brzezinski