CHICAGO (AP) -- Jake Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings for his major league-leading 15th win, and Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell homered to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 7-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.
Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak after winning nine straight and 15 of 16, with Arrieta (15-6) dominating on the mound and Rizzo and Russell supplying the power at the plate.
Rizzo's three-run drive capped a four-run third inning that saw Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez get ejected.
Russell singled and scored in the third and added a solo homer in the fourth to make it 5-0. Chris Coghlan contributed an RBI single and a run-scoring triple and scored twice.
 
Arrieta picks up 15th win, Cubs pound Braves 7-1
 
Arrieta improved to 9-1 in his past 12 starts. The right-hander gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked one while lowering his ERA to 2.30.
The Cubs got back to winning after they gave up a combined 25 runs and 40 hits in a two-game sweep by Detroit. With Pittsburgh beating San Francisco on Thursday, Chicago trails the Pirates by four games for the top wild card and leads the Giants by four games for the second spot.
Atlanta lost for the 19th time in 27 games and remained tied for the major league lead with 44 road losses.
Mike Foltynewicz (4-5) gave up seven runs and eight hits over 4 2-3 innings.
The Cubs grabbed a 4-0 lead in the third in a span of two pitches after Gonzalez got tossed.
The ejection - his first - came with runners on first and second and one out.
Coghlan had a 2-0 count when plate umpire Doug Eddings raised his hand twice toward the Atlanta dugout. Gonzalez came out to argue and kicked dirt on the plate.
Coghlan then singled in the game's first run. Rizzo made it 4-0 when he drove the next pitch just inside the right-field foul pole for his 24th homer.
 

Comments are closed.