Final, Cubs 2-0: A.J. Pierzynski made some noise with a pinch-hit single to lead off the bottom of the ninth. But Brock Holt grounded into a double play and Daniel Nava grounded out to end the ballgame.
Jake Arrieta fell four outs shy of a no-hitter. He still completely shut down the Red Sox’s offense, though, and Boston begins its 10-game homestand with a disappointing 2-0 loss.
Stephen Drew broke up Arrieta’s no-hit bid with a single into right field with two outs in the eighth inning. Arrieta struck out 10 and walked one while throwing 120 pitches over his 7 2/3, one-hit innings.
Jake Peavy was solid but made one costly mistake to Nate Schierholtz in the fourth inning after issuing a two-out walk. Schierholtz blasted a two-run homer into the Red Sox’s bullpen for what turned out to be the game’s only offense.
The Red Sox and Cubs will go at it again Tuesday. Clay Buchholz will face Edwin Jackson.
Mid 9th, Cubs 2-0: Edward Mujica kept the Cubs scoreless in the ninth inning, and the Red Sox will come up facing a two-run deficit.
Xander Bogaerts ranged out into shallow left field to make a nice play on Nate Schierholtz’s popup for the second out of the ninth inning.
Mujica struck out Junior Lake to retire the side. Lake is 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He’s also down a bat because he snapped one over his knee earlier in the game.
David Ross, Brock Holt and Daniel Nava are due up in the bottom of the ninth inning for Boston. It looks like A.J. Pierzynski will bat for Ross.
End 8th, Cubs 2-0: Jake Arrieta came up short in his quest for a no-hitter.
Arrieta retired Mike Napoli and Xander Bogaerts to begin the bottom of the eighth inning. He then got to two strikes on Stephen Drew, who entered the game hitting .133, before the shortstop singled into right field to break up the no-hit bid.
Arrieta received a standing ovation from the Fenway Park crowd upon walking off the mound. There are a lot of Cubs fans in attendance, but even Red Sox fans showed their appreciation for a solid effort.
Arrieta surrendered just the one hit over 7 2/3 innings while striking out 10 and walking one. He threw 120 pitches (75 strikes).
Pedro Strop replaced Arrieta and retired Mookie Betts, who popped up the first pitch he saw.
9:51 p.m., Cubs 2-0: Jake Arrieta fell four outs shy of a no-hitter.
Stephen Drew poked a single into right field with two outs in the eighth inning to end Arrieta’s no-hit bid.
Mid 8th, Cubs 2-0: Maybe “Sweet Caroline” will turn things around. Maybe not.
Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Boston despite issuing two walks. Breslow has walked more hitters than he has struck out this season, so he has been walking a tightrope all year.
Breslow escaped the jam by retiring Luis Valbuena on a fly ball to right field.
Mike Napoli, Xander Bogaerts and Stephen Drew are due up against Jake Arrieta in the eighth inning. Arrieta is trying to become the first pitcher to no-hit the Red Sox at Fenway Park since 1958.
End 7th, Cubs 2-0: Jake Arrieta will carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
Arrieta worked another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. Daniel Nava, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz failed to get anything going.
Nava and Pedroia struck out to begin the inning. Nava looked at a 1-2 changeup. Pedroia was tardy on a high fastball.
Arrieta is doing a nice job of changing speeds and keeping the Red Sox off balance.
Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. Mike Napoli, Xander Bogaerts and Stephen Drew will test their luck in the eighth.
Here comes Craig Breslow for Boston.
Mid 7th, Cubs 2-0: Burke Badenhop assembled a nice seventh inning. The Red Sox, who are hitless, still are very much in this game.
Badenhop retired Nate Schierholtz, Junior Lake and Darwin Barney in order. Schierholtz and Lake struck out.
The Red Sox will send up Daniel Nava, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz in the seventh as they attempt to break through against Jake Arrieta.
End 6th, Cubs 2-0: The Red Sox are without a hit through six innings.
Jake Arrieta retired Mookie Betts, David Ross and Brock Holt in order in the sixth inning. Mike Napoli’s fifth-inning walk represents Boston’s only baserunner to this point.
The Red Sox ended their series in New York with a very encouraging eight-run performance spearheaded by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Clearly, that momentum has not carried over into this game.
Burke Badenhop will be the new Boston pitcher in the seventh inning.
Jake Peavy allowed two earned runs on five hits over six innings. The right-hander struck out seven, walked two and threw 109 pitches (73 strikes). Both of Chicago’s runs came on Nate Schierholtz’s two-run homer back in the fourth inning.
Mid 6th, Cubs 2-0: The Red Sox started cooking up some action in the bullpen. Jake Peavy made it through the sixth inning, though.
Peavy retired Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro before issuing a two-out walk to Luis Valbuena. Peavy walked Welington Castillo with two outs in the fourth inning, and Nate Schierholtz made him pay with a two-run homer into Boston’s bullpen.
Peavy ensured he didn’t suffer a similar fate this time around by striking out Castillo to end the sixth.
End 5th, Cubs 2-0: The Red Sox finally produced a baserunner in the fifth inning. Boston still is searching for its first hit, however.
Mike Napoli walked on six pitches with one out. Jake Arrieta battled back after falling behind 3-0, but the right-hander missed with a 3-2 fastball.
Napoli was the only baserunner of the inning, although the Red Sox put some decent wood on the ball. David Ortiz smoked a line drive that was handled by third baseman Luis Valbuena, who was shifted over on the right side of second base. Xander Bogaerts lined out to left field.
Stephen Drew’s dismal offensive season continued with an inning-ending strikeout.
Mid 5th, Cubs 2-0: Dustin Pedroia has started a couple of sweet double plays in recent days.
Chris Coghlan singled with one out in the fifth inning after Mookie Betts tracked down Darwin Barney’s fly ball to center field.
Ryan Sweeney hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that Pedroia fielded on the backhand while ranging to his right. Pedroia flipped the ball out of his glove to Stephen Drew, who successfully turned an inning-ending double play.
Pedroia made a similar flip to start a double play during Saturday’s win over the Yankees.
End 4th, Cubs 2-0: The Red Sox again failed to muster up any offense in the fourth inning.
Brock Holt, Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia went down in order. Jake Arrieta has yet to allow a baserunner.
Holt struck out looking, Nava flied to center field and Pedroia hit a lazy fly ball to right field that hung up long enough for Nate Schierholtz.
Mid 4th, Cubs 2-0: The fourth inning provided a good snapshot of Jake Peavy’s season so far.
Peavy struck out the first two hitters, Starlin Castro and Luis Valbuena, giving him five strikeouts for the game. The right-hander missed with three consecutive pitches after jumping ahead of Welington Castillo 1-2, though, and the Cubs capitalized.
Nate Schierholtz followed Castillo’s two-out walk with a two-run homer into the Red Sox’s bullpen. Peavy now has surrendered 17 home runs this season.
Peavy struck out Junior Lake swinging to end the inning. Lake snapped his bat over his knee in frustration.
End 3rd, 0-0: Jake Arrieta has yet to allow a baserunner.
Arrieta completed a clean first trip through the Red Sox’s order by retiring Stephen Drew, Mookie Betts and David Ross consecutively in the third inning.
Betts, batting for the first time at Fenway Park as a major leaguer, hit a line drive on the screws. Unfortunately for the rookie, it was right at right fielder Nate Schierholtz.
Drew struck out looking and Ross grounded to short.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: Jake Peavy cruised in the third inning.
Peavy retired the top of Chicago’s order — Chris Coghlan, Ryan Sweeney and Anthony Rizzo — without any issues.
Coghlan hit a popup near the Red Sox’s dugout. It looked like it was going to exit the field of play, but first baseman Mike Napoli ended up having enough room to make the catch.
Sweeney hit a line drive right at Brock Holt. Rizzo popped out to Dustin Pedroia.
End 2nd, 0-0: Jake Arrieta has retired the first six batters he has faced.
Arrieta struck out David Ortiz and Mike Napoli while working a scoreless second inning. Ortiz went down swinging on a 1-2 slider, and Napoli went down looking on a 3-2 offering that caught the bottom of the strike zone.
Xander Bogaerts popped out to his third base counterpart to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Mookie Betts’ outfield inexperience was apparent in the second inning.
Betts, who also made a rookie mistake in right field Sunday, probably could have caught Nate Schierholtz’s deep drive to center field in the second inning. Betts backed off at the last second in an attempt to play the ball off the wall, however, and it landed on the warning track.
Schierholtz’s one-out double marked the only blemish of the inning for Jake Peavy, who recorded three strikeouts in a scoreless frame.
Welington Castro, Junior Lake and Darwin Barney each went down by way of the K.
End 1st, 0-0: Jake Arrieta was forced to avoid some splintered lumber in a scoreless first inning for the Cubs right-hander.
Arrieta started his night by getting Brock Holt to ground out. Daniel Nava then shattered his bat on a ground ball, with the end of the stick heading right in Arrieta’s direction.
Arrieta, fortunately, escaped harm on Nava’s broken-bat grounder, which second baseman Darwin Barney handled for the second out.
Dustin Pedroia, who reached base four times in Sunday’s win, struck out swinging to end the inning.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Jake Peavy overcame two hits en route to a scoreless first inning at Fenway.
Mookie Betts was tested right away in center field, as Chris Coghlan led off with a lined shot. Betts glided over to make the catch with ease.
Ryan Sweeney, a former Red Sox, blooped a single into center field and took second base two batters later when Starlin Castro lined a single into center.
Peavy avoided any damage by getting Luis Valbuena to ground to Dustin Pedroia at second base.
7:11 p.m.: Jake Peavy hits the bump, and we’re ready for baseball.
7:08 p.m.: The Red Sox held a touching tribute for Jack Lanzillotti and his girlfriend, Jessica Campbell, who tragically died two Saturdays ago when they were struck by a vehicle involved in a crash.
Lanzillotti was the manager of Red Sox productions/game operations. The club honored him and Campbell on Monday — the first home game since the tragedy — with a video montage and a moment of silence.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims.
6:15 p.m.: Mookie Betts, as mentioned, will play center field and bat eighth. Jackie Bradley Jr. will be bumped from the starting lineup Monday as manager John Farrell continues to find the right rotation.
“With (Betts) coming here, there’s going to be a little rotation of guys through four positions,” Farrell said before Monday’s game. “Mookie’s in center field tonight. Jackie will be back out there likely tomorrow. It’s part of the rotation that we’re trying to get everyday — or close to everyday — at-bats for particularly the young players that are on our roster.”
David Ross will be behind the dish Monday with the Red Sox traveling from New York late Sunday night.
Monday’s complete lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (38-44)
Brock Holt, RF
Daniel Nava, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS
Mookie Betts, RF
David Ross, C
Jake Peavy, RHP (1-6, 4.93 ERA)
Chicago Cubs (34-46)
Chris Coghlan, LF
Ryan Sweeney, DH
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Starlin Castro, SS
Luis Valbuena, 3B
Welington Castillo, C
Nate Schierholtz, RF
Junior Lake, CF
Darwin Barney, 2B
Jake Arrieta, RHP (4-1, 2.05 ERA)
5:30 p.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox are 2-0 in the Mookie Betts Era.
The Red Sox rebounded from a 6-0 loss to the New York Yankees on Friday to take the final two games of the teams’ three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Betts, who was called up before Saturday’s 2-1 win, made his major league debut Sunday as the Red Sox finished their 10-game road trip with an 8-5 victory.
Betts will make his Fenway Park debut Monday as the Red Sox begin a 10-game homestand. Betts will play center field and bat eighth in the club’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs.
Jake Peavy will take the ball for Boston on Monday. Peavy enters on the heels of a rough outing last Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners in which he allowed seven earned runs on eight hits over five innings. The right-hander surrendered two home runs in the loss, which pushed him to 0-4 this month with a 5.87 ERA.
Peavy will face Jake Arrieta on Monday. Arrieta has pitched well for the Cubs, posting a 4-1 record and 2.05 ERA in 10 starts since beginning the season on the disabled list.
Monday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Tune in on NESN, and keep it right here with NESN.com’s live blog.
