The Cubs let this game slip through their hands. Their bullpen imploded and allowed the Diamondbacks to mount a massive comeback late in this game.
A good start
Dansby Swanson got the game started in the top of the second with a blast to left-center, Giving the Cubs an early 1-0 advantage in this one.
Matthew Boyd was near flawless in his Cubs debut. In 92 pitches, he allowed zero runs His fastball reached the 95 MPH mark like we saw in spring, and he limited hard contact all day.
He was aided in the fifth by some nice glove work from Nico Hoerner to cover first base, but Boyd was in control all afternoon for the Cubs.
In the sixth, Seiya Suzuki nailed his first homer of the season to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. His 106 MPH shot off the bat with Ian Happ on first gave the cubs their first run since Dansby Swanson’s second-inning blast.
Arioznas Eduardo Rodriguez had a good day except for the two homers he allowed. In his 5.1 innings of work, he allowed 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 walks. He perhaps would have been in line for the win today if not for two of his pitches leaving the park.
Ryan Thompson would relieve Rodriguez in the top of the sixth, and then would pitch a scoreless sixth and seventh inning.
The Bullpen started to unravel
Nate Pearson would relieve Matthew Boyd in the sixth and continued some of his command issues. He would allow one run in the inning on a near home run by Alex Thomas, which scored Josh Naylor on a sacrifice fly.
In the seventh, he allowed Ketel Marte to score on a Gabriel Moreno single, which made the game 3-2. This prompted a pitching chance from manager Craig Counsell to Caleb Thielbar.
Thielbar would walk Naylor, then get a huge strikeout on Eugenio Suarez with the bases loaded and just one out. He would induce an Alex Thomas groundball a few pitches later, which ended the inning before the Diamondbacks could tie.
In the eighth, Kyle Tucker gave the Cubs some great insurance with his three-run blast on he first pitch he saw. This came after an overturned play that resulted in Suzuki being called safe at first. Tucker gave the Cubs a 6-2 lead going into he bottom of the eighth.
An awful 8th inning
But the Diamondbacks would not go down without a fight. Geraldo Perdoma would lace a double to right center to make it a 6-4 game. Right after, Lourdis Guriell Jr. would tie the game with a rocket to left field. All of a sudden, the Diamondbacks had erased the Cubs ‘ run lead in two pitches.
The nightmare eighth continued for the Cubs when Josh Naylors doubled scored Gabriel Moreno giving the Dimaondbacks a 7-6 lead. The Diamondbacks also got production from their pitcher as Ryne Nelson had his first big league plate appearance, hit, and run scored. The Diamondbacks would start the inning down four, and they would end it up four.
The Cubs were unable to mount a rally in the ninth and lost 10-6.
The Cubs took two of four against the Diamondbacks in the desert. They will take on the Athletics for a three-game set starting tomorrow. Ben Brown will get the ball for his first start of the season tomorrow in Sacramento.
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