Levine: Jake Arrieta Not Sharp But Gets Job Done

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- There was no drama Thursday regarding the possibility of Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta becoming the second player in MLB history to throw back-to-back no-hitters, as Brewers lead-off man Jonathan Villar singled to start the game. That was part of a shaky first inning for Arrieta, who also walked two before striking out Chris Carter and Kirk Niewenhuis to get out of a bases-loaded jam.

That inning was also reflective of the day Arrieta had. He wasn't sharp but he did get the job done in allowing one run on three hits in five innings while walking four and striking out six. In only going five innings, Arrieta's streak of 24 consecutive quality starts came to an end, but he did improve to 5-0 on the season as the Cubs rolled to a 7-2 win.

With Arrieta having thrown 119 pitches in his no-hitter last week, the plan was to get him out of the game early with a lesser pitch count. Arrieta threw 92 pitches Thursday, a start that was pushed back a day by Wednesday's rainout.

"Even though he has had a couple extra days, rest he is coming off the 120," manager Joe Maddon said. "Prior to that, I thought the work numbers were good. That was why I was a little bit more comfortable going with that. He was in the 80s and 90s (pitch count) in his previous starts. That is what happens when you are careful monitoring that stuff, so you are ready when you might need a little more. We want to go back to our plan today."

In allowing one run, Arrieta's ERA rose to 1.00. He's allowed just four earned runs in five starts.

Arrieta wasn't bothered by his quality start streak -- the second-longest in baseball history -- coming to an end.

"Just because I gave up a run and the streak ended doesn't mean I will put a whole lot of thought into it," Arrieta said. "I will kind of reserve that for later on. We got after (Taylor) Jungmann early, made him throw a lot of pitches. After three innings, we had five runs. We were at a spot that we felt pretty good about where we were in the ballgame."

Arrieta's scoreless innings streak at Wrigley Field also ended at 52 2/3. That marked the longest home scoreless streak in Cubs history and the second longest in 54 years.

"It had to end at some point," Arrieta said. "We will now try to start another one."

With the win, Arrieta joined White Sox ace Chris Sale as the only two players at 5-0 in baseball. They've each won every start they've made to open the season. The last Cubs pitcher to do that was Greg Maddux in 2006. Arrieta has now won 16 consecutive decisions in the regular season, which ties Rick Sutcliffe for the franchise record.

Are expectations being built beyond reality, considering a one-run outing raises his ERA and is considered an off day?

"I don't think so," Arrieta said. "At the end of the day, I am pretty realistic. I understand that the guys on the other side are really good as well. Even on your best days, you're going to give up runs. We are going to make mistakes. That is why we play get 162 and (get) 34 starts. It all should even out in the end. You take it in stride, learn from it and move on."

The four-seam fastball was the key to Arrieta's performance Thursday.

"Jake's two-seamer was moving too much out of the zone," said catcher David Ross, who homered. "We went to a cut-fastball mode to get some strikeouts in the first and back to the four-seam fastball after that."

Added Maddon: "Jake didn't have the command we are used to. You saw that, I saw that.He finally did find it, but 92 (pitches) after five wasn't really worth it. We had enough of a lead and enough of a fresh bullpen to say, 'Let's get him out.'"

The Cubs' 16-5 start is the franchise's best since 1907, when Frank Chance's team started 17-4.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.