Baez, Murphy go yard as Cubs pour it on in rout of Diamondbacks |
PHOENIX — Pounding out nine runs on 12 hits, the Chicago Cubs (89-62) clobbered the Arizona Diamondbacks (78-74) 9-1 at Chase Field on Tuesday. Scoring all nine of their runs in the opening five innings, the Cubs took a 5-0 lead in the second frame and never looked back. Chicago also benefited from a solid start on the mound by
Mike Montgomery, who threw six innings of one-run ball and improved to 5-5 with the win.
For the second game in a row, the Cubs hit a pair of two-run bombs off the D-backs. Javier Baez, who skied a two-run shot on Monday, put the Cubs up 2-0 in the first inning with a 408-foot blast to center that came with two outs. Baez, who went 2-4, now boasts 33 home runs and 107 RBI on the year. In the previous plate appearance, Anthony Rizzo put together a 17-pitch at-bat to wear Diamondbacks starter Matt Andriese down. Andriese, who fell to 0-2 with the loss, lasted just two innings and was tagged for five runs. Javy walks the walk. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/hl6oqbAH4F In the top of the second, the Cubs pushed three runs across, all of which came with two outs. Jason Heyward, who recently returned from injury, smacked a one-out double to deep left-center and was later scored on a double hit to the warning track in left by Ian Happ. After Happ's two-bagger, Daniel Murphy walloped his 11th homer of the year on a sweet swing that powered out a two-run shot to right. Murphy went 2-3 with a walk in the contest. Better make it five. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/p0b8VouNhY Montgomery's lone run allowed came on solo dinger off the bat Ketel Marte in the bottom of the second. Montgomery struck out eight and gave up just four hits. The Cubs went up by eight runs in the top half of the fifth, with Arizona taking until the sixth batter of the frame to finally record an out. Rizzo tallied two RBI with a single that bounced past the first baseman and into right field. Rizzo later scored on an RBI groundout by Willson Contreras, and Baez was plated after that on a sacrifice fly by Albert Almora Jr. The Cubs committed two errors on the evening, but the Diamondbacks committed four. An all-around terrible game for Arizona, the 9-1 Chicago beatdown set up a potential road sweep for the Cubs on Wednesday.
