Jake Arrieta after 7 strong innings to beat Miami: 'I'm really close'

Jake Arrieta after 7 strong innings to beat Miami: ‘I’m really close’

By Gordon Wittenmyer

Jake Arrieta after one of his two hits against the Marlins Thursday night. He also pitched seven strong innings for the victory.

MIAMI — Their World Series MVP is on the disabled list. Their $184 million Gold Glove right fielder went on the DL on Thursday. Their two-time postseason hitting hero was sent to the minors.

“You can’t anticipate scoring a ton of runs without this group involved,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

And then, naturally, the Cubs opened a four-game series in Miami with an 11-1 win over the Marlins, their fourth victory in five games.

The lineup included four players who weren’t in the big leagues when last season opened — two who made their debuts this year. And only leadoff man Anthony Rizzo and starting pitcher Jake Arrieta were in the big leagues when 2015 opened.

For all the hitting by the recently struggling Addison Russell (4-for-5 with a homer and two doubles) and Ian Happ (4-for-5 with two RBI), the seven efficient innings by Arrieta carried the most significance.

“To get Jake pitching that kind of quality game again is going to be a big boon to us,” said Maddon, whose starting pitching has been up and down all season — none more than Arrieta (7-5).

Arrieta, who has dealt with a broken blister in recent starts, turned spokesman for the protective adhesive he used to keep the issue at bay. He needed just 82 pitches in his second seven-inning start of the season (and his first since April 9).

He said it was a low-energy day, and his velocity was down early. But a lot of changeups and good location had him confident he’s turning a corner.

“I’m close. I’m really close,” the 2015 Cy Young Award winner said.

The moves

Kyle Schwarber’s minor-league demotion after weeks of internal discussion and denial overshadowed other moves the Cubs made Thursday, including putting Jason Heyward on the disabled list with a cut on his left hand that makes it painful to swing the bat.

Right-hander Dylan Floro returned from Class AAA Iowa for his fourth stint with the big-league club this year to bolster the bullpen a day after the relievers had to cover five innings.

And outfielder Mark Zagunis (.399 on-base percentage, .873 OPS at Iowa) was called up and made his big-league debut starting in right field.

To make room for Zagunis on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated left-hander Zac Rosscup for assignment.

Was leading off to blame?

As tough as Schwarber is, did pushing the leadoff spot on a kid with only 71 regular-season games contribute to his season-long slump?

“We put him in the leadoff position and he struggled,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We obviously moved him out of that position to try to have him get into a different place from a performance standpoint, and that didn’t work, either.”

Schwarber remained the leadoff hitter the first six weeks, finally moved out of that spot with a .182 average about a month ago.

“I know that’s what people are going to point to because that’s a variable in his career,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, hitting him leadoff in 2017, it didn’t work. Whether or not it caused him to have a tailspin or not, I have no way to answer that question.”

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Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com