June 30, 2014: Cubs’ Jake Arrieta flirts with no-hitter at Fenway Park; Mookie Betts makes Boston debut

The Chicago Cubs had not made many visits to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series. It took until 2011 – the 15th season of interleague play between the National and American Leagues – for the Cubs’ first regular-season appearance at Fenway since the Boston Red Sox closed out their 1918 title by winning Game Six.

The Cubs’ next trip to Boston was in 2014, their first visit since former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein joined Chicago as president of baseball operations in October 2011.1 In the series opener on June 30, Red Sox rookie center fielder Mookie Betts made his Fenway Park debut, but Cubs’ right-hander Jake Arrieta stole the spotlight by taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning and finishing with a two-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over the reigning World Series champion Red Sox.2

The 2014 season was a pivotal one for both franchises in contrasting ways. The Cubs, under new manager Rick Renteria, were in the midst of a rebuilding phase, with a young core beginning to emerge around players like first baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro. The Red Sox had won their third World Series in 10 seasons in 2013, but their 2014 club had lost 10 in a row in May and was fourth in the AL East Division at 38-44.

Arrieta was having an impressive month of June. In five starts he had won all three of his decisions, while posting a 1.14 ERA with 38 strikeouts against only 5 walks. On June 24 he threw six perfect innings in a win over the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. Traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Cubs nearly a year to the day before his start in Boston,3 the 28-year-old Arrieta had gone 20-25 with a 5.46 ERA in four seasons in Baltimore, but he was emerging as a potential ace in Chicago. “You really have to go through times where you struggle and have to find out who you are as a player and what you’re willing to do to get to where you want to go,” he said.4

For the Red Sox, the 21-year-old Betts, in his second major-league game, got the start in center field. Betts was the Red Sox’ hottest new prospect. In 2014 he hit .355 at Double-A Portland and .335 at Triple-A Pawtucket. He stole 33 bases and slashed 138 hits in 99 minor-league games. Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy bemoaned that Betts had not had enough seasoning in the minors and that impossible expectations were being put upon him.5

“I’m not the savior. I’m just here to contribute and do my part,” Betts told sportswriters.6 In his debut the night before at Yankee Stadium, his performance was a mixed bag. He went 1-for-3 with a walk but was caught stealing and hit into a double play.7 Red Sox Nation was abuzz with Betts’ home debut and the interleague play on a cool summer evening at Fenway Park.

Jake Peavy took the mound for the Red Sox. The three-time All-Star and 2007 National League  Cy Young Award winner, who’d been obtained by Boston as part of a three-team trade in July 2013, was struggling in 2014, coming into this start with a 1-6 record and a 4.93 ERA.

In the top of the first inning, Ryan Sweeney and Castro singled, but the Cubs stranded both runners. The Red Sox went in order in the bottom of the first with Dustin Pedroia striking out. In the second, Chicago’s Nate Schierholtz doubled but was stranded after a pair of strikeouts. Arrieta picked up two more strikeouts, of David Ortiz and Mike Napoli, in the bottom of the second. Both teams went down in order in the third. In his first at-bat at Fenway Park, Betts lined to right fielder Schierholtz for the second out of the third inning. A real pitching duel was brewing in front of the capacity crowd of 37,814.

In the top of the fourth inning, Peavy quickly got two more strikeouts before Welington Castillo worked the count full. Peavy went down and in with a fastball. The pitch was on the edge of the plate. Red Sox catcher David Ross slightly shifted his glove closer in to frame it as a strike. Castillo hopped back in the box to convince home-plate umpire Chris Conroy otherwise. Castillo drew the walk. One pitch later, Schierholtz blasted a knee-high fastball into the Red Sox bullpen for a two-run home run, his fourth homer of the season.8 The two-pitch sequence gave the Cubs the lead. Peavy recovered to strike out center fielder Junior Lake and retire the side.

Arrieta caught Brock Holt looking for the first out in the bottom of the fourth. Daniel Nava worked a full count and flied out to left field. Pedroia jumped on a 1-and-0 fastball to fly out to right field. A buzz of concern started with the Fenway fans. Arrieta was looking strong and dominating.

Chris Coghlan singled with one out in the fifth for the Cubs, but Sweeney grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Leading off the bottom of the fifth, Ortiz lined out to shift-adjusted third baseman Luis Valbuena, who had moved to the right side of second base. Napoli worked a full-count walk to end Arrieta’s 4 1/3 innings of perfect baseball. But Xander Bogaerts lined out to left field and Stephen Drew struck out swinging

Peavy continued to work in the sixth inning. After two quick outs, Valbuena drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. On his 109th pitch of the game, Peavy recovered to strike out Castillo, finishing the night with seven strikeouts in six innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, Betts took a fastball to deep center field that was caught by Lake. Arrieta added another strikeout with Ross going down swinging. Holt flied out to left field. The Red Sox lineup had batted through twice and was still hitless.

Burke Badenhop replaced Peavy to start the seventh and set the Cubs down in order with two K’s. Arrieta answered with two more K’s of his own, and Ortiz grounded to third. Through seven innings, no hits, nine strikeouts. Craig Breslow took the mound for Boston in the eighth inning. The Cubs drew two walks but left two on base.

Now in the eighth, the fans in this historic ballpark filled with excitement for the possible no-hitter. The Red Sox had not been no-hit at Fenway Park since July 20, 1958, when Jim Bunning hurled his first career no-hitter for the Detroit Tigers.9 Napoli went down looking. Bogaerts crushed a fly ball to deep center field for the second out.

Drew, in a 2-for-37 slump and batting .143, worked a 2-and-2 count and singled on Arrieta’s cutter to right field.10 “Got a little lazy and kind of pulled it, left it middle-middle,” said Arrieta after the game about his career-high 120th pitch.11 The no-hit bid was over at 7 2/3 innings.

When manager Renteria went to the mound, something amazing happened: The Fenway fans gave Arrieta a standing ovation. A bewildered Arrieta raised his cap to the crowd as he headed to the dugout. “I got goose bumps,” he told sportswriters.12

Pedro Strop replaced Arrieta. Betts ended the half-inning with a popout to Valbuena. Valbuena tossed the ball into the stands to a young visiting Cubs fan.

In the top of the ninth, Edward Mujica set the Cubs down in order. Héctor Rondón replaced Strop to ensure that Arrieta’s gem was not wasted. A.J. Pierzynski pinch-hit for Ross and singled to right. Holt grounded into a 3-6-3 double play. Nava grounded out to second to end the 2-hour 59-minute game. Arrieta earned his fifth win and lowered his ERA to 1.81. Rondón recorded his 10th save.

For the Cubs, it was a bright spot in the 73-89 season. Arrieta’s emergence as a frontline starter, combined with contributions from Rizzo, Castro, and Schierholtz, foreshadowed the team’s 2015 playoff run and eventual 2016 World Series championship.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, were in a transitional phase, with their 2013 championship roster aging and underperforming. They ended up in last place in the AL East in 2014. Peavy was traded to the San Francisco Giants on July 26, 2014. He finished his 15-year career there in 2016.

Arrieta finished 2014 with a record of 10-5. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2015, when he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA. After his near-miss at Fenway Park, he went on to throw two no-hitters: On August 30, 2015, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, and on April 21, 2016, against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Betts lived up to expectations. As of 2025, he has been an eight-time All Star, winning six Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, and the 2018 AL MVP Award.

Acknowledgments

The article was fact-checked by Thomas J. Brown Jr. and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Jake Arrieta, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS201406300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2014/B06300BOS2014.htm

Notes

1 Epstein, however, did not travel with the Cubs for his anticipated homecoming. Paul Sullivan, “Epstein Passes on Past,” Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2014: 1-3.

2 Julian Benbow, “Can’t Bear Down,” Boston Globe, July 1, 2014: C1.

3 After four years with the Orioles organization, a July 2, 2013, trade with Pedro Strop and cash sent Arrieta to the Cubs for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger.

4 Jacob Sheyko, “Arrieta Lives Up to Hype – but It Took Him 7 Years,” Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Illinois), June 28, 2014: 24.

5 Dan Shaughnessy, “Betts Gets Call, Ready or Not,” Boston Globe, June 29, 2014: C1.

6 Julian Benbow, “Victorino Won’t Rush Back,” Boston Globe, July 1, 2014: C5.

7 Nick Cafardo, “There Was a Lot to Follow in Betts’s Debut,” Boston Globe, June 30, 2014: C1.

8 Benbow, “Can’t Bear Down.”

9 Alex Coffey, “Jim Bunning Throws His First No-Hitter,” National Baseball Hall of Fame, https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/inside-pitch/jim-bunning-first-no-hitter (last accessed September 15, 2025).

10 Benbow, “Can’t Bear Down.”

11 Rob Harms, “His Was Nearly the Stuff of Dreams,” Boston Globe, July 1, 2014: C5.

12 Mark Gonzales, “Getting Warmer,” Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2014: 3-3.