The Philadelphia Phillies latest “big series” versus the Atlanta Braves did not begin well as they had to send an injured pitcher out to start.
As the Philadelphia Phillies planned to send out Jake Arrieta against a much younger Atlanta Braves hurler with an ERA 1.94 better, Philly.com’s David Murphy wrote that “Arrieta is increasingly looking like an aging pitcher who is chitty chitty bang banging his way to the finish line of his career.”
Although this likely won Murphy the 2019 prize for the creation of a new verb in pursuit of an insult, it probably didn’t make Phillies fans feel very confident about the latest big series against Atlanta that began July 26 in South Philadelphia.
Of course, this is not to say Murphy was wrong, exactly. Arrieta had been a .500 pitcher on the nose for the season and a half he’s been with the Fightin’s, and he is now pitching with a bone spur in his elbow. He has appeared to compile his Phillies record largely on grit. The right-hander has always exuded battle spirit.
Arrieta, this evening, figured to need that spirit as he faced Mike Soroka, who had cooled off a bit from his wildly successful spring but still had lost only two games against ten wins and sported a 2.46 ERA and a 1.094 WHIP. Before June 9, Soroka hadn’t given up more than one earned run in any game. He had given up four earned runs in two of his three games in July. However, one of those iffier games had been against the Phillies July 4 when the Braves scored 12 and won by six.
In total, Soroka had started eleven games this season in which he’d given up one earned run or none. In contrast, Arrieta had no game in 20 starts in which he had given up no earned runs and just six with one surrendered.
It was a beautiful evening for baseball, and Atlanta held a 5½-game lead on third-place Philadelphia.