Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs named National League Player of the Week

Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta has been named National League Player of the Week for the week of September 21st-27th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Arrieta led the Majors with 20 strikeouts and 16.0 innings of work last week while posting a perfect 2-0 record in two starts. The right-handed hurler posted a 0.00 ERA (T-1st, MLB) last week and held opponents to just four hits and one base on balls across his two outings. Arrieta became the first Major Leaguer to reach the 20-win plateau this season, tossing a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. The 29-year-old became the first Cubs pitcher to win at least 20 decisions since Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins posted a 24-13 record in 1971. The shutout was his third of the season, which is the most by a Cubs starter since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux had four in 1992. Arrieta fanned 11 Brewers in the outing and held Milwaukee to just three hits across his 9.0 innings of work. On Sunday night, the Texas native gave his club 7.0 scoreless innings and hit a solo home run in another 4-0 decision, this time besting Chicago's NL Central-rival Pittsburgh Pirates. Arrieta, who was perfect through the first 6.0 innings of the outing, extended his Wrigley Field scoreless innings streak to 40.2 in last night's contest which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, is the longest in the venerable ballpark's 101-year history (Hall of Famer Bob Gibson's 37.0-inning streak from 1965-66 was Wrigley's previous best). With a 10-0 record and 0.44 ERA since August 1st, the Cubs' ace also became the second pitcher in over 100 years to win at least 10 games without a loss during the months of August and September while recording an ERA below 1.00. According to Elias, Milwaukee's Cal Eldred, who went 10-0 with a 0.95 ERA from August 1-September 30, 1992, is the only other pitcher to have accomplished the feat. This is Arrieta's third Player of the Week citation this year, having won previously for the weeks of July 6th-12th and August 24th-30th.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Colorado's Nolan Arenado (.250, 2 HR, 12 RBI, .583 SLG); Miami's Justin Bour (.333, 6 R, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1.000 SLG); Lucas Duda of the New York Mets (.353, 5 R, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 1.059 SLG); San Francisco's Jarrett Parker (.583, 7 R, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1.833 SLG); and St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Jaime Garcia (1-0, 1.20 ERA, 13 SO, 15.0 IP) and John Lackey (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 14 SO, 14.0 IP).

In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Jake Arrieta will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.