Jake Arrieta recorded his 12th straight quality start Thursday night as the Cubs blitzed the Braves 7-1, lifting the spirits of a rotation that had struggled a bit in recent games.
Yet manager Joe Maddon is more concerned about the effectiveness and well-being of his bullpen during the playoff stretch.
“That’s really critical,” he said. “The bullpen is going to be where it is won or lost. Our starters who are struggling a little bit are going to bounce back. They are going to be fine. They are healthy. They have not been challenged innings-wise.”
Cubs pitchers had a 2.56 ERA in 16 games from July 29 to Aug. 15. The Cubs went 15-1 during that stretch. In the three games before Thursday night, Cubs pitchers allowed 28 runs and 48 hits.
Cubs reliever Jason Motte said the entire staff will be fine.
“It’s just one of those things that happen,” he said. “We have been on a crazy run, winning everything. We came to the ballpark expecting to win. We lost that last game against the White Sox when (Chris) Sale threw a heck of a game (15 strikeouts).
“And Detroit came here. They have some good veteran hitters and they took advantage of every mistake that we made. So it is one of those things. Yesterday is over, turn the page and go out and do what we have to do today to win.”
While Motte acknowledges a special camaraderie among the relievers in the bullpen, the team-first philosophy trumps all.
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“There are 25 of us in here and whether you’re the first guy or the 25th guy, it’s all about picking each other up,” Motte said. “That’s what good teams do. The same thing in the bullpen.”
Motte said the relievers try to help each other when they go through individual struggles. But they try to temper their suggestions.
“If you bring up too much, then you think about everything but what you need to think about,” he said. “Just execute the pitch.”
Arrieta did his part again Thursday, pitching six shutout innings, allowing just four singles. Arrieta improved to 15-6 with a 2.30 ERA. He has allowed only 12 earned runs in his last 12 starts.
Arrieta, who has gone 9-1 during the span of his 12 quality starts, benefited from Anthony Rizzo’s three-run homer and Addison Russell’s solo shot.
“I don’t like to harp on quality starts,” Arrieta said. “I wasn’t really thrilled with six innings. I wanted to get a little deeper. There were some opportunities for me to shorten some at-bats. … (But) I don’t think I had an out recorded in the air tonight. All ground-ball outs and punch-outs. The way this park has been playing, that has to be the mindset.”
Left-hander Travis Wood took over for Arrieta in the seventh before Justin Grimm and Tommy Hunter finished.
Maddon knows he can rely on a solid effort from Arrieta, and he did not disappoint when the Cubs really needed him.
“Jake obviously was really good,” Maddon said. “He just got his pitch numbers up (107) a little bit.”
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