Arrieta puts blame on himself this time
The Phillies cleaned up those messy defensive shifts that ace pitcher Jake Arrieta was so critical of in his last start.
They barely moved at all Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
If Arrieta hadn’t run out of gas in the sixth inning he might have continued his unbeaten ways at Citizens Bank Park and resuscitated the team that’s lost 10 of 13 since standing alone in first in the NL East.
Instead, the Phillies handed the Brewers a 12-3 decision in front of a crowd of 25,304 that, judging by the boos, expected a lot more out of Arrieta, as well as the bullpen shelled for the second straight game.
“It’s just one of those situations where I feel like things wouldn’t have happened later in the game if I had done my job,” Arrieta said.
“I’ll wear that one today. That one’s on me. I had to work for it today. If I do my job in the sixth and manage the pitch count a little better we might be talking about a different outcome.”
Arrieta had a sit-down with manager Gabe Kapler following his last start. Arrieta outed Kapler’s quirky defensive shifts as “the worst in the league.” He said the Phillies should “copy the best” teams and called for “accountability all the way around — everybody, top to bottom.”
Kapler heard, and vice versa because he and his $33 million hurler agreed that the Phillies’ slump is just part of the long season.
“There’s certainly people who are frustrated,” Kapler said. “That’s very different than concern. Frustration means like ‘hey, we’re looking at a performance that’s not going the way we want.’ That’s upsetting. Concern means they’re worried that we’re not going to dig ourselves out of this. Which is not where we are. … There’s zero doubt in my mind that we’re going to weather this storm.”
The Phillies have lost seven of eight games this month. Arrieta has lost twice since the slide from first place, surrendering four earned runs, four hits and four walks in 5.1 innings in the most recent outing.
Arrieta had no one to blame but himself for loading the bases with one out in the sixth inning. His 106th pitch hit Dock graduate Erik Kratz in the back, the second straight time he hit the catcher. That was after a mound chat with Kapler, who went to reliever Luis Garcia after the sacks were full.
Garcia promptly punched out right-handed hitting Orlando Arcia on three pitches, including a 99 mph. fastball, and was ahead in the count, 0-2, on lefthanded pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi, who is round like an umpire, not chiseled like a ballplayer.
“In my mind at that point I’m thinking this is going really well,” Kapler said. “Exactly as we expected. And I believed the outcome of that at bat was going to be different.”
Choi skillfully worked his way to a full count, then sent the money pitch into the left field seats, just inside the foul pole, for his first grand slam. The opposite-field knock gave the Brewers a 6-3 lead.
The Phils’ bullpen allowed four more runs, Adam Morgan surrendering a two-run shot to Jonathan Villar in the seventh inning.
Adding insult to injury, it rained through much of the ninth inning, sending what was left of the crowd on its way.
Arrieta got off to a rocky start. Christian Yelich lined an opposite-field single to left over J.P. Crawford, playing third base, as Maikel Franco still was “under the weather” according to Kapler.
Jesus Aguilar followed with a 353-foot oppositefield dinger to right, his 11th homer giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead.
That was the end of Arrieta’s 15-inning scoreless streak at CBP.
It also was the first of consecutive 16-pitch innings for the ace.
Arrieta blamed part of his pitch management trouble on an ineffective curve ball plaguing him lately. He says his arm has been getting away from his body and he’s kind of “casting it” like a fisherman.
“I’ll get it back,” Arrieta said.
The Phillies obviously need it sooner, rather than later, their schedule full of good teams, not the dregs they crushed earlier this season.
“We’re in a rut but I’ve been a part of teams, championship caliber teams that have lost 10 of 12 going into the all-star break and coming back from that and winning 12 out of 14,” Arrieta said. “So, you’re going to go through periods like that. This is just one for us that we have to battle through and continue to work and put the time in and trust that what we’re doing is going to lead to success. And I really believe it is, as the rest of the guys in here do. It’s just not falling our way right now.”
Kapler couldn’t have said that better.