Phillies' Jake Arrieta upbeat over recovery of form after 7-inning gem

PHILADELPHIA -- Three outings into his tenure with the Philadelphia Phillies, Jake Arrieta is already setting an example for the team's young starters to follow.

Arrieta got off to a late start after signing a three-year, $75 million contract on March 11, but he's already looking like the leader and staff ace the Phillies envisioned.

He was on his game Thursday night, throwing seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball on a frigid, windy night at Citizens Bank in a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh's only base hit was a second-inning infield single by catcher Francisco Cervelli. Arrieta struck out 10 and walked two while throwing 97 pitches, and became the first Phillies pitcher to record a double-digit strikeout game and give up one hit or fewer since Cole Hamels no-hit the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 25, 2015. Arrieta, coincidentally, was the Cubs' starting pitcher in that game.

After recording only nine swings and misses in his first two outings this season, Arrieta induced 14 swings and misses against the Pirates while relying primarily on his sinker.

"I knew I was going to be pretty crisp today in the bullpen when I had my sinker glove-side going early," Arrieta said. "That's just a matter of my timing being right. When I get my foot down, I'm able to drive the ball downhill to my glove side. Three starts in, to be able to do that, is a good sign. I was a little behind, but now I'm caught up."

The Pirates learned that Arrieta was a formidable presence when he pitched against them in the National League Central as a Cub, and a change of venue hasn't changed that dynamic. Arrieta stifled a Pittsburgh team that entered this four-game series ranked first in the National League in runs, hits and total bases. Arrieta is now 11-6 with 3.01 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 128 career innings against the Pirates.

The Phillies beat up on Chris Archer on the way to a 9-4 victory in Arrieta's last outing, and they took advantage of some wildness from Jameson Taillon to build a comfortable early lead Thursday. Rhys Hoskins led off the second inning with a solo homer to left field, and the Phillies scored four more runs on three singles, two walks, a hit batsman and a stolen base.Cesar Hernandez's three-run, two-out single was the big hit in the inning.

Entrusted with a lead, Arrieta attacked the strike zone and shut down the Pirates with a 91-95 mph fastball and an effective changeup and curveball. It was a flashback to the 2015 season, when he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA and beat out Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw for the Cy Young Award.

"You're going to get excited about having Jake go out there every fifth day if he's sort of the midrange version of himself, which is still a very good starting pitcher,'' Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. "If he's a little bit better than his average self, he's unhittable.''

With Arrieta, Aaron Nola, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez and Ben Lively in the rotation, Philadelphia's starters entered the current homestand against Pittsburgh, Arizona and Atlanta ranked ninth in the NL with a 3.46 ERA.

"I knew it was going to be part of my responsibility, and I relish that responsibility," Arrieta said. "I take great pride in being able to help groom these young players and help them take the next step forward. I think we're already on our way to doing that with all of the young arms in the rotation."