Jake Arrieta Isn't Having Stephen A. Smith's Skepticism: 'No One Will Undercut My Hard Work'

(CBS) What started out as a straightforward question from 670 The Score host Jason Goff during an interview with Cubs ace Jake Arrieta last Friday has spiraled into much more.

A day after Arrieta hurled his second career no-hitter and continued his historic, dominant stretch of pitching, he acknowledged on the Spiegel and Goff Show that he'd heard remarks within baseball that accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs. That topic was then further pushed into the spotlight when USA Today published a story early Wednesday about Arrieta with more comments regarding steroid rumors and how he responds to them.

And of course, that meant ESPN's Stephen A. Smith had to chime in Wednesday. During "First Take," Smith spent close to a minute reading off Arrieta's statistics from the previous three or four seasons and how he'd logged far more innings in 2015 than ever before. Smith then followed with this.

"I'm just looking at it, and I'm saying to myself, All right, I'm not going to accuse you of using performance-enhancing drugs supplements, drugs, whatever you want to call it," Smith said. "But I will say that you shouldn't be laughing at those who are just looking at you and saying, 'Excuse me, what the hell is going on here?' Because it's not like they haven't seen performance-enhancing drug users before."

Arrieta had previously said he laughs such accusations off, pointing to his strenuous workout regimen and detailed nutritional plan that has him among the most fit players in the entire game.

So later Wednesday, Arrieta responded to Smith on Twitter.

"Honestly, hearing that kind of stuff come from some of the best players in baseball is honestly a compliment," Arrieta said last week on 670. "I view it that way."

Arrieta's 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA this season and will take the hill Wednesday night against the Brewers. He's recorded 24 consecutive quality starts dating back to last June, going an incredible 20-1 with a 0.86 ERA in that stretch.