Jake Arrieta prides himself on being a leader to this young Phillies' pitching staff.
"More than anything, you want to lead by example," he said. "Part of the mentorship and trying to help these guys progress is exactly that – going out there, having a plan, being prepared and executing. You can talk to guys until you're blue in the face, but until you can go out there and put up results and show these guys that what you do in between starts really pays dividends, then guys really start to buy in.
"Actions speak louder than words. Any time you can put into motion what you're trying to emphasize to these guys plays a huge role in their development. I don't intend to be a preacher, but there's a lot of things that I regard highly as a starting pitcher and I'm trying to emphasize to these guys and they're grasping it and running with it."
Arrieta provided a great example in how to grind when you don't have your best stuff and how to minimize damage in tight situations in helping lead the Phillies to a 5-3 win over Arizona on Wednesday night (see first take).
Aaron Altherr's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning against Zack Greinke was the big blow for the Phillies, but also important was the way Arrieta kept everything together in the top of the fourth inning. A leadoff error, a single and two Arrieta walks pushed an Arizona run home and the bases were still loaded with no outs.
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The 32-year-old former NL Cy Young winner heard a few boos – "Who likes a bases-loaded walk?" he said. "I would have booed, too." – but he responded by getting two ground balls, one a neatly started double play by Maikel Franco, to get out of the inning and limit the damage.
"Tonight was one of those games where a young starting pitcher could give up six or seven runs," Arrieta said. "That's just kind of how it goes. Bases loaded no outs. A double in the gap, a walk, things escalate and before you know it you're out of the game in the fifth. So being able to slow it down, take a deep breath, collect yourself, and then get focused on executing a pitch is really what I try and emphasize to all of these guys and if you're able to do that more times than not you'll be able to come out ahead."
Arrieta battled his way through seven innings for his third straight quality start and the Phillies' 12th in 23 games as a staff. Only one of the three runs he allowed was earned as he pitched over errors by Franco, J.P. Crawford and Andrew Knapp.
"We have to defend the baseball better, everybody knows it," manager Gabe Kapler said.
Arrieta picked up the defenders and Altherr picked up everybody when he clubbed a 2-1 slider into the shrubs in center field for a three-run homer. Greinke doubled up with his slider. Altherr was looking for it and exploded on it.
Why was he looking for that pitch?
"I'd rather not say," Altherr said with a laugh. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself on that one."
Makes sense. Altherr will see Greinke again someday. In the meantime, the Phils are 15-8 and they will look to take the rubber match of the series on Thursday afternoon.
