Phillies: Jake Arrieta shows he can still pitch with the best
By John Town
When the Phillies needed it, Jake Arrieta delivered a huge start on the mound, even though it eventually went for naught.
When the Phillies signed Jake Arrieta, one of the biggest concerns was that he had lost his edge, that he wasn’t anywhere near the same type of pitcher he was when he won the Cy Young in 2015. There was some basis to that argument as Arrieta had a major down season last year. However, Arrieta showed Sunday that he still has that 2015 form in him.
In the deciding game of Philadelphia’s series with the Nationals, Washington sent to the mound the pitcher who has won the NL Cy Young award each of the two years since Arrieta won. Max Scherzer started, and he pitched exactly how you would expect a back-to-back Cy Young winner would pitch.
Scherzer recorded 19 outs Sunday; 15 of them came via strikeout. It was the most strikeouts any pitcher had in 6.1 innings or less in one start. He kept the Phillies off the board for six innings, making things look easy.
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Even though Scherzer was dealing, the game remained close thanks to Arrieta keeping the Nationals almost entirely at bay. The lone run (and one of only two hits) Arrieta allowed was on a Matt Adams solo home run. He allowed only two walks, and thanks to a few key caught base stealers and a double play, no runner got past first base.
Arrieta’s efforts seemingly paid off when Philadelphia rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh after Scherzer left the game. They picked up a fourth run in the eighth, giving themselves a nice cushion.
However, the bullpen failed to protect that cushion.
Luis Garcia and Tommy Hunter each allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth. Then, Hector Neris failed to record a single out in the ninth, giving up the tying and game-winning runs.
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Even though Arrieta’s start turned out to be a wasted effort, it was a positive sign that he still can pitch like the Cy Young winner he was three years ago. Arrieta’s ability to still deliver these key starts will be huge in August and September.