Darvish, Arrieta duel, but neither a factor as Cubs lose in extras
Jake Arrieta got his due.
Yu Darvish heard some "Yuuuuuuus."
In the end, neither pitcher in this duel got a decision Monday night at Wrigley Field.
After late-inning dramatics from both sides, the Philadelphia Phillies went on to beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on a two-out 10th-inning homer by J.T. Realmuto off reliever Kyle Ryan.
The Cubs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Daniel Descalso hit a 2-run triple and scored on a throwing error. But the Phillies tied it in the top of the ninth against Cubs reliever Brad Brach, who thought he had a game-winning strikeout only to see Andrew McCutchen awarded a walk on a checked swing to set up the go-ahead run.
The Darvish-Arrieta matchup had people talking leading up to the game. Arrieta made his first appearance against his former team, with whom he won the Cy Young Award in 2015 and 2 games in the 2016 World Series. Darvish essentially replaced Arrieta last year after Arrieta left Chicago via free agency.
Arrieta received a warm ovation from the crowd of 37,909 when he came to the plate in the third. He doffed his batting helmet to acknowledge the cheers. Darvish stepped off the mound to allow Arrieta the moment.
"When he showed up, I know the fans would do a standing ovation," Darvish said. "That's why we took our time."
Cubs manager Joe Maddon acknowledged Arrieta after the game.
"I loved it, absolutely loved it," said Maddon, whose team fell to 27-18. "Very happy that our fans, which you would expect from our fans, would acknowledge him like that."
Arrieta sounded appreciative.
"It felt great," he said. "Kind of something that I experienced pretty much from Day 1 here with the fan base. Cubs fans all across the country, all across the world, they really respect and appreciate what guys are able to do here for them. It means a lot. It really does. I'll never forget this city, the fan base, the organization and everything that they did for me."
Both Darvish and Arrieta lasted 6 innings. The Cubs scored a run off Arrieta in the third, but they wasted chances in the second, fifth and sixth.
The Phillies broke through with 3 in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Realmuto and a 2-run triple by Cesar Hernandez.
Arrieta gave up 8 hits while walking two and striking out four. Darvish allowed 4 hits while walking three and striking out seven.
Darvish turned in his second quality start this season. He worked through the Phillies lineup efficiently through the first five innings and heard his name being sung by the fans after his strikeouts.
"Really good," Maddon said. "He was outstanding, actually. He pitched really well."
"I pitched good in Wrigley, so that made me feel better," Darvish said.
Asked if he heard the "Yuuuus," Darvish said, jokingly: "I heard 'boo.' It's hard to say."
The fateful sixth opened with Darvish walking McCutchen. Jean Segura bounced into a 4-6 forceout. The Cubs challenged the safe call at first base, thinking they had a double play. Replay upheld the original call.
Darvish walked Bryce Harper before getting Rhys Hoskins to pop out. Realmuto grounded his single to center, and Hernandez tripled past Jason Heyward as his flyball dropped near the right-field line.
Maddon said he did not see the checked-swing call go McCutchen's way as called by first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. Brach said it could have gone either way.
"On the field, I thought for sure (it was a swing)," Brach said. "Looking at the umpire, I was a little taken aback. That's why I went off the mound and kind of regathered myself because I didn't want to let the emotion get to me there. It's a 50-50 call. It's unfortunate it didn't go my way."