Marlins spoil Arrieta’s debut, deny Phillies 3-game sweep
Jake Arrieta had some tough luck in a short debut.
Arrieta lasted just four innings Sunday in his first start for the Phillies, and Philadelphia lost 6-3 to the Miami Marlins on Brian Anderson’s tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning.
Arrieta was charged with three runs — two earned — and three hits while striking out five. He surrendered a solo homer to Miguel Rojas, the second batter he faced.
“I was erratic at first,” Arrieta said. “Got through four innings, pretty crisp the last three. Very optimistic moving forward.”
Arrieta, the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner with the Cubs, joined the Phillies a month into spring training, signing a $75 million, threeyear deal that could be worth up to $135 million over five seasons.
Wearing short sleeves on a cold day — 44 degrees at first pitch — Arrieta retired
10 of his last 11 hitters after a rough first inning. He left after throwing 74 pitches but expects to throw about 85 to 90 in his next outing.
“We want to make sure he’s healthy and strong,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We’re all on the same page. It was a great performance.”
The Marlins scored three runs off Luis Garcia (0-1) and Adam Morgan in the eighth to take a 6-3 lead. Odrisamer Despaigne (2-0) tossed two hitless innings to earn the win. Brad Ziegler finished for his first save.
Garcia hit Rojas with a fastball in the back to start the eighth. Starlin Castro walked and Morgan entered to strike out Justin Bour. After the runners advanced on Andrew Knapp’s passed ball, Anderson lined a double to right-center to give Miami a 5-3 lead.
“He’s showing us he’s making adjustments,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Anderson. “They stayed away from him and it was a nice job of hitting.”
Bryan Holaday, the catcher who tossed a perfect inning in Miami’s 20-1 loss Saturday night, added an RBI single.
The Marlins (3-6) snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided a three-game sweep in Philadelphia (3-5).
Rojas lined his first homer on Arrieta’s 10th pitch. After Castro walked, Bour followed with an infield single that could have been an inning-ending double play except for a shift.