Levine: Kazmir Controls The Cubs, Who Finally Lose With Arrieta On The Mound
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Like a fine wine aging before your eyes, Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta keeps getting better with time.
On Tuesday night, Arrieta threw seven shutout innings of four-hit ball, taking a no-decision after exiting after 107 pitches in a 0-0 duel with Dodgers left-hander Scott Kazmir. Arrieta's dominance was no surprise. What was a surprise is that the Cubs ended up losing, as the bullpen was the culprit in a 5-0 loss at Wrigley Field.
That snapped a streak of 23 consecutive regular-season wins for the Cubs when Arrieta started.
"It's important, you only get to go out there every five days, so putting out a quality or above-average effort is part of the game plan," said Arrieta, whose ERA dropped to 1.56. "I will not get to do this for another four days. That is why you prepare so hard to be a starter. You take care of business, do what you need to do and hand it over to the next guy."
Arrieta was never really in trouble until the seventh inning. He rolled through six innings, allowing two hits and a walk with just 79 pitches. All of that changed in the seventh, as he lost command and walked the bases loaded before striking out pinch-hitter Justin Turner with his 28th pitch of the inning.
"You play this game long enough, you are going to lose a game here and there," Arrieta said of the Cubs' six-game winning streak being broken.
The Cubs' 23 straight wins with Arrieta on the mound had tied a major league record. That came to an end when left-handed reliever Clayton Richard gave up three three straight singles and a run before leaving for right-hander Adam Warren, who allowed a sacrifice fly that was also charged to Richard.
Kazmir handcuffed the Cubs all evening, only allowing a lead-off base hit to Dexter Fowler in the third inning. He threw six scoreless innings. Joe Blanton and Adam Liberatore combined to throw three perfect innings in relief and finish off the one-hitter.
"We have gotten use to winning when he pitches," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said in reference to Arrieta. "It's not going to last forever. That is the nature of the game. He certainly pitched well enough for us to win tonight. Their pitcher was really good as well. We one-hit them (Monday). They returned the favor."
The Cubs had averaged 7.2 runs per start for Arrieta in 2016.
"Kazmir was really good tonight," Arrieta said. "He really threw the ball well, a good change-up, good fastball kept us off balance. We just got outplayed."
If the Cub offense is vulnerable, Maddon ackonowledged it's to a pitcher who changes speeds and controls the zone like Kazmir did.
"His command was really good," Maddon said.
The Cubs finished May with an 18-10 record and still hold a 6.5-game lead over the second-place Pirates in the NL Central. Arrieta is now 20-0 with a 1.01 ERA over his last 24 regular-season starts.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
