Arrieta hurls another gem

Jake Arrieta allowed four hits in eight scoreless innings as the Cubs beat Arizona 2-0 in his first start since he threw a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

Arrieta (18-6) struck out seven and walked none in his major league-leading 18th victory.

Any chance for another no-hitter ended in the first inning when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt singled with two outs to right field.

“I would have preferred to not give up any hits,” Arrieta said. “Those guys are good.”

Goldschmidt hit a really good pitch down and away to right field. I missed a spot on (David) Peralta.”

After he allowed a single to third baseman Jake Lamb to start the second inning, Arrieta retired 16 successive batters before Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-out, ground-rule double in the seventh.

“As the game wore on, I started to mix things up a little differently, use some different sequences, using the changeup quite a bit,” Arrieta said.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Arrieta should be mentioned among annual award.

“It’s as good as you’re going to get on the major-league level, quality of pitches, durability, a guy who absolutely takes care of himself,” Maddon said.

Hector Rondon replaced Arrieta for the ninth. He allowed a leadoff infield single to right fielder Ender Inciarte but got a double play ball for the first two outs.

After giving up another single, Rondon got a groundout to end the game for his 26th save.

Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray (3-11) struck out eight but allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.

“(Arrieta is) probably the most dominant guy we’ve faced all year,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said.

“We knew before going into it, looking at video, that his stuff was as good as anybody’s in the league this year. He’s obviously on a good run, and he’s a horse.”

Arrieta has won seven successive starts.

He struck out a season-high 12 and walked one in his no-hitter in a 2-0 Cubs victory over the Dodgers on Sunday.

He threw the 14th no-hitter in Cubs history and their first since Carlos Zambrano on Sept. 14, 2008, against the Houston Astros.

“It’s kind of over and done with it,” Arrieta said about his no-hitter. “It’s great. But we have some other things to accomplish.”