Cubs Fall Behind Mets 2-0 In NLCS
NEW YORK (AP) — Somewhere between Pittsburgh and Chicago, Jake Arrieta lost his unhittable aura.
He didn't find it in New York, that's for sure.
Arrieta gave up base hits to his first three batters — including Daniel Murphy's latest postseason homer — and the Chicago Cubs were unable to recover Sunday night in a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets that left them in a 2-0 hole in the NL Championship Series.
The good news for the wild-card Cubs is they're headed home to Wrigley Field, with Game 3 in the best-of-seven set scheduled for Tuesday night. But they'll need quite a comeback to claim their first pennant in seven decades and give themselves a chance to end that World Series championship drought that dates to 1908.
Arrieta led the majors with 22 wins and was so dominant after the All-Star break, his second-half performance on the mound ranks as one of the best in baseball history. He went 11-0 with a 0.41 ERA in 12 starts from Aug. 4 through the end of the season, then pitched a five-hit shutout at Pittsburgh to win the NL wild-card game.
But with his 2015 total now approaching 250 innings, the Cy Young Award contender has been much less effective his last two outings.
Arrieta finally got touched up at home by St. Louis in Game 3 of the Division Series. He yielded four runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-6 win that left him 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 20 strikeouts in two playoff starts.
Working on an extra day of rest against the Mets, the right-hander fell behind 3-0 after 13 pitches at chilly Citi Field.
Pitching in short sleeves on a windy, 45-degree night, Arrieta gave up a leadoff single to Curtis Granderson and a hit-and-run double to slumping David Wright that put the Mets ahead.
Murphy reached down for a 1-2 curveball and hooked it into the right-field corner for his fifth homer in these playoffs.
Arrieta issued a leadoff walk in the third to Granderson, who stole second and third before scoring on Yoenis Cespedes' infield single.
Arrieta was pulled for a pinch-hitter to start the sixth with Chicago trailing 4-0. When the Cubs were unable to rally, he was pinned with only his second road loss all year.
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