Hearing from Showalter, Cruz and Gausman following 4-1 loss (and Arrieta)
By Roch Kubatko
CHICAGO - The Orioles' winning streak ended at four games today with a 4-1 loss to the Cubs before 33,761 at Wrigley Field.
Former Oriole Jake Arrieta retired the first 13 batters and allowed one run over seven innings. He improves to 7-4 with a 2.53 ERA.
Arrieta is 3-1 with a 1.86 ERA in nine starts in Chicago this season. He's 19-19 with a 5.02 ERA in 60 career games against the American League.
"He was good," said manager Buck Showalter. "A lot of cutters, just like we knew he would.
"I thought (Kevin) Gausman was pretty good. He'd probably like to have the breaking ball back, but he pitched pretty well. We had a lot of guys who needed work today. We had guys four, five and six days. We were able to get the people in there who needed some work today, whether it was just getting on the mound and throwing the ball. The only guy we missed was (Ubaldo) Jimenez. But Jake was good.
"He pitched some real good games for us. You have to give up quality to get quality. He threw a lot of cutters, a lot of fastballs. He's still probably 50 percent fastball at best."
Arrieta has become more consistent with the Cubs.
"He had it for periods for us," Showalter said. "He was starting opening day. We knew. He's in a good spot and we got quality in return. That's the way things work out. We wish him well.
"Wish we would have had some of those balls fall in today. We might have had a different story."
The Cubs were sensational in the field, making a series of plays that qualified as web gems.
"We hit five or six balls right at them," Showalter said. "Hopefully, we'll get some. You've got to tip your hat to them. They played really good defense. You take those four, five or six the other way, it may be a different situation. But you kind of know what it feels like on the other side because we've been able to play some pretty good defense along the way."
Three of the Cubs' runs scored with two outs.
"Yeah, the add-on runs are always tough," Showalter said. "We had at least four guys I wanted to get into the ballgame, but the tack-on runs, that kind of hurt us."
Showalter was irritated, as expected, with the Orioles not being awarded a run in the fifth after Chris Davis was thrown out at home. He firmly believes that Cubs catcher John Baker blocked the plate in violation of Rule 7.13.
"The throw out at the plate, he probably took a little wide turn there," Showalter said. "I haven't seen it. I'll have to look at it.
"If that's not blocking the plate, what is? I'm totally confused now. I hate even coming out there. We all know the rules got some challenges to it, but boy, I don't know what else... You tell me."
Nelson Cruz said Arrieta looked "more mature."
"He was commanding all his pitches and he didn't make many mistakes," Cruz said.
Kevin Gausman allowed multiple home runs in the same game for the first time this season, a source of frustration for him.
"Yeah, you know, especially on (Javier) Baez," Gausman said. "That was as easy of a pitch to hit as I threw today. In that situation, he takes hacks. That was a fastball in, but it's one of those things where you learn from it and move past it."
Gausman was removed for a pinch-hitter in the top of the sixth after 101 pitches.
"Through the first three innings, I was cruising," he said. "When I came out for the fifth and I happened to look up there to see how many pitches I was at, and 'Oh, I have to make this inning count.'
"It was my first time pitching here. I didn't think (Luis) Valbuena got that ball as good as he did, but I just think it kind of kept going. Baez, I think, got all of that one. I knew that one was gone right when he hit it.
"I was a little sporadic today. I thought I had pretty good command. I was able to go in on guys, get off the plate when I needed do. I just wasn't that good at minimizing. Two swings are what really kind of hurt me.
"He's a great pitcher. We tried to battle and try to get as many runs as we can, but unfortunately it wasn't our day. We lost. Forget about it and come back tomorrow and do our best."
Cruz set his career-high with his 34th homer, and his third in the last four games.
"It's special, but like I've said before, it's not about me. It's about the team. We lost, so whatever I did it doesn't matter," Cruz said.
"The power was always there. It was just kind of off a little bit. I didn't drive the ball the other way like I used to earlier in the season. It's something I need to start doing."
Here are some quotes from Arrieta:
On facing the Orioles
"There was a little more to it, being your former team. After the first inning, it was just business as usual. It was nice to face those guys. It's good to see a lot of them again. It's been a while. It was just another start for me after that (first inning). I didn't really have particularly crisp breaking stuff early in the game and recognized that. I missed a lot around the zone and not in the zone, which was good. That was a point of emphasis for me."
"The changeup that Cruz hit wasn't really that bad of a pitch. He's just a big strong guy leading the league in home runs and he's going to run into pitches like that. The pitch count was elevated because of not being able to go to a certain pitch early in counts to get an out."
On Cubs defense
"(Logan) Watkins made some great plays on the other side of the bag. I know we had a shift on (Steve) Pearce, but he was able to get to a good position on a couple balls and make some plays. Throwing the guy out from right field, (Ryan) Sweeney did a tremendous job getting to that ball and putting it on a good line so (John) Baker could make an attempt there. The defense was very crisp there."
On whether he had interactions with former teammates
"There was a little bit. (Adam) Jones had some stuff to say to me after the swing and miss and ground ball back to me. I talked to Pearce at first, talked to (J.J.) Hardy. Some casual nods. We'll catch up tomorrow."
On the Orioles
"It's part of my development. Those years were and still are very important to me for a lot of reasons. Regardless of how certain situations went negatively or positively, they all impacted my career in a certain way. I'm thankful for those times over there, those years there, and I'll continue to use them for future reference, to reach back in the memory back and think about certain times and certain situations that I had there, that I have now, and how I react and handle those. I think about it a lot."
On where he's developed the most
"I don't think there's one area really. It's development in all facets of pitching at almost every level. Commanding multiple pitches for strikes, being able to throw them below the zone, above the zone, in and out of the zone, the ability to make adjustments on the fly, pitch after pitch, that might be the biggest adjustment and something I might not have been able to do frequently enough in my time in Baltimore. It's becoming second nature to me and it feels good."
On seeing all the orange in the stands
"I saw and heard it, especially warming up in the outfield. I like that. I like that kind of stuff. Fans are passionate about their team and they're in a great place now, eight or so games up in the AL East. Their fans have a lot to be happy about. It's good they're getting that support."
"I thought (Kevin) Gausman was pretty good. He'd probably like to have the breaking ball back, but he pitched pretty well. We had a lot of guys who needed work today. We had guys four, five and six days. We were able to get the people in there who needed some work today, whether it was just getting on the mound and throwing the ball. The only guy we missed was (Ubaldo) Jimenez. But Jake was good.
"He pitched some real good games for us. You have to give up quality to get quality. He threw a lot of cutters, a lot of fastballs. He's still probably 50 percent fastball at best."
Arrieta has become more consistent with the Cubs.
"He had it for periods for us," Showalter said. "He was starting opening day. We knew. He's in a good spot and we got quality in return. That's the way things work out. We wish him well.
"Wish we would have had some of those balls fall in today. We might have had a different story."
The Cubs were sensational in the field, making a series of plays that qualified as web gems.
"We hit five or six balls right at them," Showalter said. "Hopefully, we'll get some. You've got to tip your hat to them. They played really good defense. You take those four, five or six the other way, it may be a different situation. But you kind of know what it feels like on the other side because we've been able to play some pretty good defense along the way."
Three of the Cubs' runs scored with two outs.
"Yeah, the add-on runs are always tough," Showalter said. "We had at least four guys I wanted to get into the ballgame, but the tack-on runs, that kind of hurt us."
Showalter was irritated, as expected, with the Orioles not being awarded a run in the fifth after Chris Davis was thrown out at home. He firmly believes that Cubs catcher John Baker blocked the plate in violation of Rule 7.13.
"The throw out at the plate, he probably took a little wide turn there," Showalter said. "I haven't seen it. I'll have to look at it.
"If that's not blocking the plate, what is? I'm totally confused now. I hate even coming out there. We all know the rules got some challenges to it, but boy, I don't know what else... You tell me."
Nelson Cruz said Arrieta looked "more mature."
"He was commanding all his pitches and he didn't make many mistakes," Cruz said.
Kevin Gausman allowed multiple home runs in the same game for the first time this season, a source of frustration for him.
"Yeah, you know, especially on (Javier) Baez," Gausman said. "That was as easy of a pitch to hit as I threw today. In that situation, he takes hacks. That was a fastball in, but it's one of those things where you learn from it and move past it."
Gausman was removed for a pinch-hitter in the top of the sixth after 101 pitches.
"Through the first three innings, I was cruising," he said. "When I came out for the fifth and I happened to look up there to see how many pitches I was at, and 'Oh, I have to make this inning count.'
"It was my first time pitching here. I didn't think (Luis) Valbuena got that ball as good as he did, but I just think it kind of kept going. Baez, I think, got all of that one. I knew that one was gone right when he hit it.
"I was a little sporadic today. I thought I had pretty good command. I was able to go in on guys, get off the plate when I needed do. I just wasn't that good at minimizing. Two swings are what really kind of hurt me.
"He's a great pitcher. We tried to battle and try to get as many runs as we can, but unfortunately it wasn't our day. We lost. Forget about it and come back tomorrow and do our best."
Cruz set his career-high with his 34th homer, and his third in the last four games.
"It's special, but like I've said before, it's not about me. It's about the team. We lost, so whatever I did it doesn't matter," Cruz said.
"The power was always there. It was just kind of off a little bit. I didn't drive the ball the other way like I used to earlier in the season. It's something I need to start doing."
Here are some quotes from Arrieta:
On facing the Orioles
"There was a little more to it, being your former team. After the first inning, it was just business as usual. It was nice to face those guys. It's good to see a lot of them again. It's been a while. It was just another start for me after that (first inning). I didn't really have particularly crisp breaking stuff early in the game and recognized that. I missed a lot around the zone and not in the zone, which was good. That was a point of emphasis for me."
"The changeup that Cruz hit wasn't really that bad of a pitch. He's just a big strong guy leading the league in home runs and he's going to run into pitches like that. The pitch count was elevated because of not being able to go to a certain pitch early in counts to get an out."
On Cubs defense
"(Logan) Watkins made some great plays on the other side of the bag. I know we had a shift on (Steve) Pearce, but he was able to get to a good position on a couple balls and make some plays. Throwing the guy out from right field, (Ryan) Sweeney did a tremendous job getting to that ball and putting it on a good line so (John) Baker could make an attempt there. The defense was very crisp there."
On whether he had interactions with former teammates
"There was a little bit. (Adam) Jones had some stuff to say to me after the swing and miss and ground ball back to me. I talked to Pearce at first, talked to (J.J.) Hardy. Some casual nods. We'll catch up tomorrow."
On the Orioles
"It's part of my development. Those years were and still are very important to me for a lot of reasons. Regardless of how certain situations went negatively or positively, they all impacted my career in a certain way. I'm thankful for those times over there, those years there, and I'll continue to use them for future reference, to reach back in the memory back and think about certain times and certain situations that I had there, that I have now, and how I react and handle those. I think about it a lot."
On where he's developed the most
"I don't think there's one area really. It's development in all facets of pitching at almost every level. Commanding multiple pitches for strikes, being able to throw them below the zone, above the zone, in and out of the zone, the ability to make adjustments on the fly, pitch after pitch, that might be the biggest adjustment and something I might not have been able to do frequently enough in my time in Baltimore. It's becoming second nature to me and it feels good."
On seeing all the orange in the stands
"I saw and heard it, especially warming up in the outfield. I like that. I like that kind of stuff. Fans are passionate about their team and they're in a great place now, eight or so games up in the AL East. Their fans have a lot to be happy about. It's good they're getting that support."
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