The Philadelphia Phillies (11-7) have celebrated a 7-0 victory over Pittsburgh Pirates (12-7) and successfully opened their four-game weekend series. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta made the best start of his season so far.
Arrieta was on fire! The right-hander, who came to Philly as a free agent, allowed a single by Francisco Cervelli in the second inning. That’s all the guests managed. Arrieta threw seven 1-hit innings and collected a total of ten strikeouts (2 BB).
“Yes, it was good,” said Arrieta about his performance. “Apart from my change-up location, it was probably the best start I’ve had this year.” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was a bit more impressed: “This was the best movement on his fastball I’ve seen since 2015. He was hot today with all his pitches. He pitched extremely well.” Hurdle has observed Arrieta as an opponent 18 times in the last three seasons.
Offensively, the Phillies also got off to an excellent start. Rhys Hoskins opened the second inning with a home run, after which his colleagues added four more runs. Cesar Hernandez managed a 3-run single and then he came home with an RBI single by Odubel Herrera.
This 3-run single was the first for the Phillies since 1978! It was made possible by a 3-2-count with two outs, loaded bases and a Crawford who had really put the pedal to the metal from the first base.
In the fifth inning Herrera managed another RBI single, followed by an RBi single by J.P. Crawford to the 7:0 final.
All this against Pirates starter Jameson Taillon, who sails after just two outs in the second inning. He threw 52 pitches and gave four hits and five runs.
Page 1: Dominant Arrieta leads Phillies to victory
Page 2: Results and highlights from the night