Smooth ride, smooth sailing in Arrieta's return to Wrigley
Jake Arrieta's return to Wrigley Field was a well-rounded experience.
It wasn't too much different from old times. The 2015 Cy Young Award winner threw six solid innings and picked up a victory as the Cubs beat Pittsburgh 5-1.
But Arrieta's return to Chicago didn't begin when he took the mound. After the game he talked about his unique ride to the ballpark, which helped set the mood.
"Well, I spent the last couple days riding my little scooter around the city," Arrieta said. "Seeing familiar spots, getting recognized by some people, which were things I really embraced when I was here before. I like to get out in the city and see people, have conversations. The fans here are some of the best in all the world."
Just to be clear, Arrieta said this is a sit-down scooter, perhaps a minibike type of electric vehicle.
"It's not a motorcycle, it's not a bird (stand-up scooter)," he said. "It's kind of a hybrid. I just cruise around at about 12 miles per hour, 15 miles per hour. I don't live far from the park, so I leave the car with the family and I just kind of causally make my way to the field.
"Sitting at a stoplight or a stop sign, I like sparking conversation with people walking by. I've always enjoyed doing that in this city. It's a very special place for me. So it's something I take a lot of pride in and I love a little electric scooter, so it's something you'll see me on pretty much the entire summer."
Seeing Arrieta cruise through six innings on the mound is something the Cubs are hoping to see all summer. He struggled with injuries at times during the three years he spent in Philadelphia, but Arrieta was encouraged by the fact that two of his better pitches weren't working well Saturday and he was still able to roll through the Pirates lineup. The lone run he allowed was in the first inning.
"I thought he attacked the hitters, I thought he stayed in rhythm, I thought he gave us a good pace," manager David Ross said. "It was nice. First outing, it was nice to hear the fans give him a nice round of applause as he took the mound, too. That was pretty cool."
The wind was blowing out to right and center field. The Cubs were able to take advantage with a pair of home runs - a windblown sky ball to the basket in center by Kris Bryant, then a mash to right that landed well up the bleachers by Jason Heyward. Bryant was happy his young son got to see him homer in person for the first time.
Javy Baez was another standout, with 2 hits, 2 stolen bases, an RBI and a run scored.
"Javy's chaos when he gets out there," Ross said. "It's a fun, exciting player. He feeds off the crowd, they feed off him, we feed off him. He's a sparkplug when he gets going. It's fun."
Cubs relievers picked up 7 strikeouts in 3 innings. Even though it wasn't a save situation, Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth and struck out the side. That's a sigh of relief for Cubs fans, since Kimbrel struggled early in spring. For the Pirates, rookie sensation Ke'Bryan Hayes left the game early with an apparent left wrist injury.
Arrieta left for three years, signed with the Cubs and reported to spring training in Arizona. So this day was truly a homecoming for one of the stars of the World Series team.
"I've been anticipating this day for a while," Arrieta said. "It felt really good. Even though there's only 20 percent capacity, it felt like a lot more. Very thankful for the fans showing up the way they did. With the excitement, the energy, even before the first pitch they were ready to get after it. It's just like I remembered it."
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