Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago Cubs

· Major League Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks

50-48, 24-24 Away

Final
5 - 2

Chicago Cubs

47-52, 25-22 Home

Gabriel Moreno has 3 hits, scores twice and has RBI as Diamondbacks beat Cubs

Nelson (7-6) struck out nine batters and allowed three hits as Arizona won for the seventh time in 10 games. Reliever Ryan Thompson escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth inning allowing one run and Paul Sewald pitched the ninth inning for his 14th save.

“I’m trying to keep it just one outing at a time or one day at a time. … I feel like keeping that level-headed mindset, even when I’m out there pitching, it’s one pitch at time and trying to be present,” Nelson said. “I think that mindset has really helped me a lot.”

Christian Walker singled to drive in Moreno and Ketel Marte to cap a three-run third inning off Cubs starter Justin Steele (2-4). Moreno singled in the first run. Randal Grichuk and Corbin Carroll also drove in a run for Arizona.

The Diamondbacks’ streak may dictate whether the defending National League champions will be either buyers or sellers at the July 30 trade deadline.

Steele allowed five runs on nine hits before he was pulled after 4 2/3 innings. A strength of Chicago’s pitching staff, Steele hadn’t allowed more than three runs in a game over his previous nine starts, a stretch that dated to May 22.

“We’re just good hitters, you know, and I think we have good game planning,” Arizona manager Torey Luvolla said. “So what it is exactly I don’t know. I know that they go out there with a really good idea of how to attack each pitcher and it certainly worked today against Steele.”

A Nico Hoerner double preceded two consecutive walks thrown by Justin Martinez that loaded the Cubs’ bases with no outs in the eighth inning. Thompson gave up a sacrifice fly to Ian Happ before getting out of the inning.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell took aim at the home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz following the loss, which pushed the Cubs into last place in the National League Central Division.

“I think there were some big calls in this game that were called incorrectly. Some balls, some strikes that were just missed,” Counsell said.

The one call that seemed to upset the Cubs was a called third strike on Christopher Morel for the second out in the eighth inning. The pitch may be been a little low.

Morel drove in Michael Busch on a single to center field in the sixth inning for the Cubs’ other run.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: LHP Jordan Montgomery (knee) is expected to rejoin the rotation during next week’s series against the Kansas City Royals.

Cubs: OF Mike Tauchman (groin) was activated from the 10-day injured list. He grounded as a pinch-hitter and played two innings in center field. … OF Alexander Canario was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. … LHP Jordan Wicks (oblique) was placed on the 60-day injured list. … RHP Jesus Tinoco was called up from Triple-A and threw two scoreless innings.

The Diamondbacks will start RHP Zac Gallen (6-5, 3.87 ERA). The Cubs have listed RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-7, 6.78 ERA) to start Saturday.

How can I watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Chicago Cubs?

TV Channel: Diamondbacks at Cubs 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Marquee Sports Net.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cubs: 62.8%

Diamondbacks: 37.2%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Suzuki struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Busch struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Hoerner singled to center, Amaya to second.
	9th Inning	Amaya singled to center.
	9th Inning	Tauchman flied out to left.
	9th Inning	Sewald relieved Thompson

Statistics

ARI		CHC
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
10	Ground Balls	8
11	Strikeouts	13
5	Runs Batted In	2
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
12	Hits	8
1	Stolen Bases	0
3	Walks	4
0	Catcher Interference	0
5	Runs	2
2	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	1
35	At Bats	34
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
26	Runners Left On Base	18
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	2
16	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	0
156	Pitches	169
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
14	Total Bases	10
41	Plate Appearances	39
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
2	Extra Base Hits	2
5.6	Runs Created	3.5
.343	Batting Average	.235
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.400	Slugging Percentage	.294
.171	Secondary Average	.176
.400	On Base Percentage	.308
.800	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.602
0.6	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
5.6	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.5
37.0	Batter Rating	20.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.80	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.33
.057	Isolated Power	.059
0.27	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.31
.073	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.103
-.171	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.059
10.0	Runs Produced	4.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.5	Balls In Play Average	0.4
88.3	MLB Rating	72.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0