Pitcher-on-pitcher crime: Arrieta takes Greinke way deep

Zack Greinke wasn’t great in his latest Cactus League start Thursday, giving up six hits and three runs while walking two Chicago Cubs at Salt River Fields.

The stat line isn’t reason for alarm, nor is it something to celebrate. For a veteran pitcher getting ready for another season, it is what it is.

But one hit that led to one run off of Greinke has the baseball world buzzing.

Greinke’s pitching counterpart, Jake Arrieta of the Cubs, led off the third inning with a home run — and it wasn’t just any home run. It was a monster shot.

Arrieta crushed a 1-2 pitch to center field to cut Arizona’s lead to 2-1.

According to MLB.com, Arrieta’s blast came on a 91-mph fastball from Greinke. It left the bat way faster.

According to @statcast #Cubs Jake Arrieta’s homer went 464 feet with a 104 mph exit velocity.

— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) March 23, 2017

Jake Arrieta going deep off Zack Greinke is something you don’t see every day.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) March 23, 2017

“Yeah, it was a good one,” Greinke said after his day was done. “Not one of my better pitches, but he hit it really well.”

Arrieta is a pretty good hitting pitcher — he’s got four dingers over the last two regular seasons, which is tied with Noah Syndergaard of the Mets for the second-most among pitchers in that span. Only San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, with eight, has more.

Greinke wasn’t surprised by Arrieta’s power display.

“No, he did it against us last year and he had a good year hitting last year,” he said.

Arrieta had a two-run homer against Shelby Miller last April 10 — in what was his first at-bat of the season. His blast gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the second inning. They’d go on to win 7-3. That shot, according to ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, went 442 feet.

On the other hand, it was the first home run given up by Greinke this spring. The right-hander was making his second Cactus League start.

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