Jake Arrieta hasn’t been pitching as well as he had last season, an assessment further magnified by his last two starts in which he failed to pitch past the fifth inning. He is 6-5 on the season with a 4.64 ERA in 14 starts but better days could come for the righty, who’ll take on the Marlins later tonight for the second time this year.
Arrieta pitched the Cubs to a home win against Miami on June 6, giving up two earned runs on two hits while striking out seven in six innings of a 10-2 victory.
Anthony Rizzo and company hopes to provide some run cushion for their beleaguered starter. Rizzo is doing mighty fine this month, batting .373 (25-for-67) with five homers and 17 RBI this June. He’ll look to batter Miami pitcher Jeff Locke, against whom Rizzo is 11-for-29 with five blasts in his career. Overall, the Cubs’ current roster has a collective batting average of .343 against Locke.
After taking down Washington on Wednesday, 2-1, the Marlins eye to defeat another heavyweight in the form of the Cubs.
Miami, which is 5-3 in its last eight games, have Jeff Locke working the mound tonight. Locke is winless in four starts this season and also sports a mediocre 4.58 ERA. In his last start, he failed to get out of the fifth inning again, allowing three earned runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of an 8-7 loss in Atlanta on June 17. While he did walk away with a no-decision, it was Locke’s fourth-straight start in which he hasn’t reached six innings on the mound. Locke’s shortened starts put Miami’s bullpen in a larger role than usual. Miami’s relievers own a collective 4.16 ERA, sixth in the National League.
Marlins hitters, meanwhile, should capitalize on a seemingly watered down version of 2016 Jake Arietta. While Arrieta beat the Marlins in Chicago earlier this season, pitching on the road has been quite a challenge for the TCU product. Arrieta is 3-5 with a 5.07 ERA and .278 opponents’ batting average in nine road starts this year.
