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Arrieta solid, but Strop blows it in Cubs' loss

Jake Arrieta knows a little something about second-half runs.

He continued his post-all-star break string of good starts Thursday night, but got a tough-luck no decision as the Cincinnati Reds scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Pedro Strop to beat the Cubs 4-2. Jose Peraza hit a pinch 2-run double with two outs, and Strop let go a wild pitch to score another run as the Reds snapped the Cubs' winning streak at five.

Although Arrieta had his streak of quality starts snapped at 7, he allowed only 1 unearned run in 5⅔ innings as he lowered his ERA from 3.63 to 3.49.

Arrieta's second-half record held at 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA.

Of course, that's still a far cry from Arrieta's post-all-star-break run in 2015, when he went 12-1 with an 0.75 ERA on the way to the Cy Young Award.

But Arrieta has come up big for both the Cubs and himself in the unofficial second half. When play resumed after the All-Star Game, both Kyle Hendricks and John Lackey were on the disabled list. The Cubs did pick up Jose Quintana during the break, but last week, Jon Lester went on the DL with shoulder fatigue.

Through it all, Arrieta has stepped in and pitched like the ace he was in 2015 and at the start of 2016.

It's been all about the command for Arrieta, especially during this run.

"Same cliches," pitching coach Chris Bosio said on his WSCR radio pregame show. "Fastball command, being pitch-efficient. Knock on wood, he's been our rock on that rotation. Like he's done in the second half the last couple of years, he's been a guy that we've really been able to count on every fifth day - his consistency, his work ethic."

Arrieta isn't going to win the Cy Young this year, but he has steadily moved up in the rankings, entering Thursday tied for fifth in the National League in wins and cracking the top 10 in ERA and WHIP.

Of course, there's the little matter of Arrieta becoming a free agent in the fall, If this second-half success continues, there will be teams lined up at his door to sign him to a big multiyear contract.

Against the Reds, he struck out the side in the first inning and was perfect through 3 innings, with 6 strikeouts.

Ian Happ gave Arrieta a 1-0 lead in the second g with his 19th home run of the season. Zack Cozart reached second base on an error by Cubs third baseman with one out in the fourth, and he scored on a single by Joey Votto.

An RBI single by Javier Baez in the sixth scored Bryant and put the Cubs ahead 2-1.

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter at @BruceMiles2112.

Scouting report

Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park

TV: WGN today; ABC 7 Saturday; Comcast SportsNet Sunday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jose Quintana (4-2 with Cubs) vs. Jerad Eickhoff (3-7) today at 6:05 p.m.; Kyle Hendricks (4-4) vs. Ben Lively (1-4) Saturday at 6:05 p.m.; John Lackey (10-9) vs. TBD Sunday at 12:35 p.m.

At glance: The Cubs took three of four from the Phillies at Wrigley Field to begin May. The Phillies have the worst record in the major leagues. One cause for excitement is rookie Rhys Hoskins, who hit his eighth homer of the year Thursday. He has the 8 homers and 19 RBI in his first 15 games played in the big leagues. Tommy Joseph has 19 homers and 63 RBI. Maikel Franco is at 17 homers and 60 RBI. The Cubs are in the early stages of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. This will be their fourth series in a row against last-place teams.

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday

- Bruce Miles

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