Christopher Morel, Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson each hit solo home runs in the third inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Sunday.
Swanson added a run-scoring single on his three-hit day and Morel also tripled for Chicago (77-67), which avoided being swept in this four-game set.
Kyle Hendricks (6-7) allowed seven hits, but only two runs, in 5 2/3 innings for the Cubs, who own a two-game lead over the Diamondbacks for the second wild-card spot in the NL.
Picked up on waivers by Arizona (75-69) this week, Seby Zavala went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Tommy Pham also had two hits as the Diamondbacks stranded eight runners to see a four-game winning streak end.
After totaling four runs in the first three games of the series, Chicago wasted no time getting on the board Sunday. Though Morel was tagged out in a rundown on Nico Hoerner’s bouncer left of the mound after opening the bottom of the first with a triple, Seiya Suzuki eventually delivered an RBI ground-rule double against Arizona opener Joe Mantiply (1-2).
Morel atoned from his baserunning gaffe in the third, when he greeted Brandon Pfaadt by driving a pitch well into the left field bleachers for his 21st homer. Bellinger and Swanson then went back-to-back off Pfaadt later in the inning as the Cubs generated some offense that eluded them most of the series.
Arizona broke through against Hendricks in the fifth. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. opened the frame with a ground-rule double, went to third on Emmauel Rivera’s hit and came home via Zavala’s single to center for a 4-1 game. However, Chicago got the run back on Swanson’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
The Diamondbacks put runners on second and third with nobody out in the sixth, but they plated only a single run on Alek Thomas’ sacrifice fly.
Pfaadt pitched the final six innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out four with a walk.
–Field Level Media
