Diamondbacks cool off red-hot Cubs |
CHICAGO - Coming off a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field and riding a four-game winning streak, the Chicago Cubs (76-65) continued their push for the playoffs as they opened another massive series with the Arizona Diamondbacks (73-68). Holding a four-game lead over Arizona in the wild-card standings, the Cubs can separate themselves from the pack and bury another team in the process.
Instead, you had an Arizona team playing for their playoff lives, as they were extremely motivated in this one. Backed by a pair of Tommy Pham homers and a strong pitching performance from Ryne Nelson, the Diamondbacks came into town and quieted the scorching hot offense 6-2. Nelson was announced the starter about three hours before the game and gave them 5 2/3 innings of one-run, two-hit ball. Opposing him was one of the hottest pitchers in the game, Javier Assad, as he has been a godsend in the Cubs rotation. Assad wasn't as strong as he has been, but he still wasn't terrible as he gave Chicago 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball while allowing seven hits. It didn't take long for the Diamondbacks to grab the early lead as Pham took Assad deep three batters into the game to put the Diamondbacks up 1-0. They would never trail in the game as they posted a rare start-to-finish win against this team. The Cubs had their chance in the bottom of the first with a pair of walks from Mike Tauchman and Ian Happ, but Nelson picked up a massive double play to kill the rally and kept the Cubs off the board. Still holding their 1-0 lead in the third, it was the Diamondbacks offense coming out swinging again, with Geraldo Perdermo and Corbin Carroll starting things off with consecutive singles. Carroll was thrown out trying to stretch that single into a double, as that could have been the momentum swing the Cubs needed. Instead, Ketel Marte took it upon himself to launch his 22nd homer of the season as the Diamondbacks extended their lead to 3-0. Those were the lone runs off of Assad as he settled in nicely to finish his outing strong after a rough start to the game. Arizona had another shot to further bury the Cubs in the fourth off a pair of singles, including the first career knock for Jordan Lawlar, but it was Assad getting out of the inning without further damage. It took the Cubs five innings to finally get to Nelson as a one-out triple from Seiya Suzuki set the Cubs offense up in a good spot. Jeimer Candelario followed that up with a sacrifice fly as the Cubs pulled within 3-1. That was as close as they would get as the combination of Keegan Thompson and Hayden Wesneski served up three runs later in the game to put the Cubs in an even bigger hole. Looking to keep things close in the sixth, Nico Hoerner picked up a two-out double off of Nelson to set the offense up, as that was the final hitter Nelson would face in the game. Andrew Saalfrank took over from there and finished things off to keep Arizona in front 3-1. Still holding their 3-1 lead in the eighth, Arizona was looking to add on as a leadoff walk gave them another baserunner. That walk proved costly as Pham unloaded for his second homer of the game, with this one coming off Thompson as Arizona opened up a 5-1 lead. The Diamondbacks kept the pressure on as they put two more baserunners on base, only to see Wesneski get out of the jam without further damage. However, Wesneski wasn't as lucky in the ninth, with Carroll reaching base on a one-out single and then stealing his 42nd base to reach scoring position. Given his speed, any hit had the potential to push across the sixth run, and with Marte delivering that hit, it was indeed Arizona 6 and the Cubs 1 as Chicago was down to their final three outs. Joe Mantiply was tabbed with closing things out, but after allowing singles to Hoerner and Cody Bellinger, the Cubs were at least threatening. Dansby Swanson followed those singles up with one of his own as the Cubs pulled within 6-2 and in a position for more. With their hottest hitter in, Suzuki, at the plate, one big hit would make this game interesting as the Diamondbacks countered with their closer, Paul Sewald. Sewald won this battle as he got Suzuki to ground into a game-ending groundout to secure the series-opening win for the Diamondbacks 6-2. The Cubs were held to five hits in the loss, with Hoerner leading the way with two. Chicago will look to even things up Friday afternoon when they turn to Jameson Taillon as he opposes Zach Gallan.
