Jake Arrieta and Gio Gonzalez should be happy to see the calendar flip to July.
They’ll hope to put a rough June behind them when they face off Sunday in the finale of a four-game set between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals. The Phillies will try to win the series in the 1:35 p.m. matinee.
Arrieta (5-6 Will Harris Jersey , 3.54 ERA) had a 6.66 ERA in five June starts. Opponents hit .305 with a .907 OPS against him in the month, and the veteran right-hander allowed at least three earned runs in each outing.
In his last start, Arrieta gave up six runs (three earned) in five innings against the New York Yankees on nine hits, two of which were homers.
“The ball is getting hit Austin Bryant Jersey , that’s it. Making mistakes, too many mistakes,” Arrieta told MLB.com after the start. “I was throwing quality breaking balls early in the count and then when I needed to go back to a similar spot or a little bit lower in the strike zone or out of the strike zone, I just put it too much in the zone and they hit it. It’s a pretty simple explanation.”
Arrieta had a 0.90 ERA in five starts during May Rashan Gary Jersey , and he gave up just one run and two hits in six innings against the Nationals on May 6. Arrieta is 1-2 with a 5.02 ERA in 10 career starts against the Nationals.
Gonzalez (6-5, 3.68) had an even worse June. The 32-year-old lefty had an 8.44 ERA in five starts during the month. In three of those outings, Gonzalez gave up at least four earned runs and failed to pitch more than four innings.
Gonzalez had his worst start of 2018 the last time he took the mound. He gave up six runs and walked five batters in one inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.
“It wasn’t my night. I couldn’t get a strike,” Gonzalez Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey , who missed the strike zone with 33 of his 62 pitches, told reporters after the outing. “Sometimes it happens. It’s part of the game.”
Gonzalez will be facing the Phillies for the 25th time in his 11-year big league career. He is 11-7 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.13 WHIP against the Nationals’ divisional rival. Gonzalez threw five scoreless innings against Philadelphia on May 4.
The Phillies, who are 5-4 against the Nationals this season, have won two of the first three games against their divisional foe in the series. At 44-37 Elgton Jenkins Jersey , they are two games ahead of Washington for second place in the National League East. The Phillies were 28-53 through 81 games a season ago.
The Phillies hope Odubel Herrera’s bat heats up. The center fielder homered in Saturday’s 3-2 victory after going 2-for-28 in his previous seven games. Herrera is hitting .286 on the season with 14 homers and 46 RBIs.
The Nationals, meanwhile, went 9-16 in June and are 42-39 at the halfway mark of the season.
Melky Cabrera has re-signed with the Cleveland Indians, who need outfield depth and protection while Lonnie Chisenhall and Bradley Zimmer are injured.
Cabrera signed a minor league deal Thursday and was assigned to Triple-A Columbus. He was with the club earlier this season before being designated for assignment last month.
Chisenhall was placed on the disabled list this week with a nagging calf injury Jace Sternberger Jersey , and there’s no timetable for his return. Zimmer has been sidelined at Columbus with a shoulder injury.
The 33-year-old Cabrera signed a minor league contract with the Indians in April. He batted .207 with five doubles and 11 RBIs in 17 games for Cleveland.
Cabrera has a .285 career batting average during 14 major league seasons.
The Indians, who lead the AL Central by 11 1/2 games over Detroit, open a 10-game homestand before the All-Star break on Friday against Oakland.