“Of course,” he said through translator Pedro Strop, a Cubs reliever. “Every hitter is just coming there to try to do their job. It was my time to lose this time.”

Asked how he felt about coming in for four-out saves, Chapman replied, through Strop: “It’s not my favorite thing to do, but that’s my job ... I’m just ready to do anything.”

Arrieta was charged with the loss, as he fell to 12-5 with a 2.75 ERA. He got credit for a quality start, with 2 runs allowed in 7 innings, but he has not won a decision since June 27.

“You can nitpick a couple things, but obviously the eighth inning didn’t do us any favors,” he said. “There were a couple pitches to (Mike) Zunino that could have gone either way (that were called balls on a walk). I tried to execute them in a very similar spot in that at-bat. Just didn’t do a very good job to the next guy (walk to Shawn O’Malley). But again, we’re moving in the right direction.”