Jake Arrieta drops nasty curve on opposing pitcher (Video)

Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta froze his counterpart on the mound in the seventh inning of Wednesday afternoon’s game. 

The Chicago Cubs‘ 1 and 2 starters are as good as any 1-2 combination in baseball. Jake Arrieta made his first start of the 2015 regular season on Wednesday afternoon in the blistering cold without sleeves, but seemed utterly unaffected.

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He dealt quickly and effectively–facing 27 hitters in 7.0 innings, allowing three hits, three walks, but zero runs while striking out seven St. Louis Cardinals. Of his non strikeout outs, six were ground outs, eight outs were recorded in the air. But with nasty stuff, Arrieta is a strikeout pitcher, which he did enough Wednesday afternoon.

The last was his nemesis on the mound, Lance Lynn–who was equally effective through six innings but folded slightly in his final inning of work. The way Arrieta did it was just like the weather–cold and mean.

In Game One of the MLB season on Sunday night, the Cardinals shut the Cubs out 3-0 behind an impressive outing from Cards ace Adam Wainwright. Cubs 1a starter Jon Lester was less impressive in his first start for his new team.

But two days later, after a postponed game Tuesday due to expected rain (which never came, though frigid temperatures remained), the Cubs got revenge by shutting out their bitter NL Central rival 2-0.

Shortstop Starlin Castro brought in Jorge Soler, who tripled to start the seventh inning, with a one-out single to left center and would eventually come home on a Miguel Montero sacrifice fly.

Those two runs were all the Cubs needed to get their first win of the season.

Hector Rondon worked a perfect ninth to notch his first save of the 2015 campaign.

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