Cubs release Arrieta

Jake Arrieta’s second stint with the Cubs was as ignominious as his first goround was glorious.

The 2015 Cy Young Award winner and 2016 World Series champion was released by Chicago on Thursday morning, hours after his worst start in a season full of them. It also came hours after Arrieta chided a reporter on a postgame video news conference for wearing a face mask in the Wrigley Field press box.

Arrieta gave up eight hits and seven first-inning runs in an eventual 8-0 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday. The effort raised his ERA to 6.88 and his hits allowed per nine innings to 11.8.

Cubs manager David Ross, who caught one of Arrieta’s no-hitters for the Cubs, had expressed hope before the game that the club could give Arrieta leeway to work out his woes.

– Gabe Lacques