ARRIETA ALLOWS 5 INFIRST, CAN’T GET OUT OF FIFTH
Hype involved with rare trip to Boston overshadowed by Arrieta’s early woes
BOSTON — Ryan Dempster, the former Cubs and Red Sox pitcher who wore World Series rings from both teams, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cubs- Red Sox series opener Friday at Fenway Park.
Jon Lester, a World Series hero for both franchises, took out the Cubs’ lineup card as the crowd cheered his return.
Even while jogging Thursday afternoon, Cubs president Theo Epstein, returning for the first time since resigning as Red Sox general manager to take his current job more than five years ago, thought he was going unrecognized until a jogger coming the other direction high- fived him without saying a word.
“It made me feel welcomed back, which is a good feeling,” Epstein said.
And then, on a brilliant, 81- degree evening in the middle of the warm- vibe homecoming, a baseball game broke out.
And along with it, the Red Sox bats.
A Red Sox lineup that included five players drafted or signed as amateurs by Epstein — along with a third baseman he traded to the Red Sox as a minor leaguer in 2014 — scored five firstinning runs against starter Jake Arrieta.
Arrieta regrouped after the opening flurry, but it was enough for the Red Sox to hold on for a 5- 4 victory in Arrieta’s first start at Fenway since he took a no- hitter into the eighth inning in 2014.
Arrieta retired Xander Bogaerts on a grounder to the mound to open the inning, and struck him out to end the inning. But in between, seven consecutive Sox reached base on a homer, double, single, double, walk, single and single before he recorded a second out. He also threw two wild pitches in that sequence.
He retired the next eight batters he faced, but the 42- pitch first inning and traffic in the fourth and fifth combined to end his work night at 4„ innings and 98 pitches.
He left trailing 5- 2, before the Cubs scored twice in the seventh on an Albert Almora walk, a two- out single by Anthony Rizzo, a run- scoring wild pitch and an RBI single by Ben Zobrist.
It was the first time Arrieta ( 3- 1) failed to pitch five innings in a start since Aug. 28, 2014, snapping a streak of 72 starts.
It also was the second consecutive start where he battled through a rough first inning.
While Arrieta has been tagged hardest in the first inning in recent starts, the early woes have been a trend for the entire rotation, which has allowed 20 first- inning runs in the last 10 games. Only two of those games ncluded scoreless firsts.
The high- emotion Red Sox series comes at the end of a long road trip that began with series wins in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
On Saturday, John Lackey, who helped Boston win its 2013 championship, makes his first start against the Red Sox since 2009.
Whether Epstein was still “on cloud nine” after the series, as he said he was before it, his weekend in Boston still is expected to be filled with more reunions, regardless of what happens at the ballpark.
“It’s weird being in the visiting clubhouse,” he said. “It took me a while to find it. And then I tried to be real cool. They were about to start a hitters meeting, so I was going to walk to the dugout, and I think I walked into a utility closet.
“And then I found the right door.”