If there was ever a day when Jake Arrieta needed to pitch like an ace, like the former Cy Young winner he is, like the get-on-my-back-boys stud he prides himself in being, it was Saturday.
Six days earlier, Arrieta called out the team after a difficult loss in San Francisco and said there needed to be "an accountability check from top to bottom." So Arrieta needed to walk the walk as he returned to the mound to face the Milwaukee Brewers. He needed to deliver.
It didn't happen.
The right-hander ran a high pitch count and had trouble navigating the sixth inning. He left with one out in that frame, a one-run lead and the bases loaded after a catcher's interference call on Jorge Alfaro, a walk and a hit batsman. Arrieta's day was then placed in the right hand of Luis Garcia. He got one out then two quick strikes on pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi before surrendering a full-count grand slam that sucked the life out of Citizens Bank Park and put the Phillies and Arrieta on their way to a 12-3 loss (see first take).
"It was my job to maintain the lead and to get through that sixth and I knew after that point I'd have to hand the ball to the bullpen, it just happened a little prematurely," Arrieta said afterward. "I expect to get out of that inning unscathed and be able to maintain the lead and I just wasn't able to do that today.
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"If I do my job in the sixth and manage the pitch count a little better, we might be talking about a different outcome.
"Whatever is said or unsaid, I intend to win the game I start so it doesn't matter what's said or anything like that. I'll wear that one today. That one's on me."
The loss was the Phillies' fourth in a row and dropped them to 1-7 in June. In a 13-game span, the Phillies have gone from a game up on everyone in the NL East to four games back. They are 3-10 since briefly poking their head into first place in the division. They have gone from nine games over .500 to two games over .500 in that span. They have averaged just three runs a game in that stretch with a .207 batting average and a .283 on-base percentage. The defense has also been poor over that span and the bullpen has given up too many leads. Over the last two games against Milwaukee, the Phils have been outscored 24-7.
All of this could make for some anxiety, but manager Gabe Kapler remains positive.
"There's no concern from me or our clubhouse," he said. "I understand that there is outside concern, but that's what our job is. It's to stay the course, even in what we perceive to be blowout games. It's just part of the season. I think you could probably look at most of the good clubs so far this year and find a 15-game stretch that just really looked ugly.
"There's certainly people who are frustrated. That's very different than concerned. Frustration means like, ‘Hey, we're looking at our performance, it's not going the way we want. Man, that's upsetting.' Concern means we're worried that we're not going to get ourselves out of this, which is not where we are. We are very confident in the talent in that room. We're very confident in the preparation of our work. There's zero doubt in my mind that we're going to weather this storm."
Arrieta concurred.
"We're in a rut," he said. "I've been a part of teams, championship-caliber teams, that have lost nine of 10, 10 of 12, going into an All-Star break and come back out of that winning 12 of 14," he said. "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. I really believe it is, as the rest of the guys do. It's just not falling our way right now."
