© Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY
Diamondbacks Turn the Tables on the Cubs to Even Series
Down to their last out, Ketel Marte hit a game-tying home run to help the Diamondbacks flip the script on the Cubs in their first extra-inning win of 2024.
The second game of this series followed a similar script as the first, but the roles were reversed. Down to their final out, the Diamondbacks got a game-tying home run from Ketel Marte and would go on to walk off the Cubs the following inning, 12-11. It marked the D-backs first extra-inning win and first walkoff of the season.
The win would not have been possible if not for the Herculean effort by relievers Scott McGough and Miguel Castro. The two pitchers stepped up tonight by getting 12 critical outs, including five of them on strikes. Castro put up zeros in the 8th and 9th innings as the offense chipped away at the Cubs bullpen. After the game Torey Lovullo said "The reason why we won this game was because of Miguel Castro".
The D-backs offense punished the Cubs for their miscues, being gifted 10 walks and two errors on the night, despite not getting the clutch hits until the 9th. The early scoring came via the long ball, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Joc Pederson went deep off Kyle Hendricks in the 3rd to take a 4-1 lead.
Tommy Henry, who had cruised through four innings, ran into a speed bump in the 5th as the Cubs plated four runs in the inning and threatened to do more. McGough put out the fire, stranding a runner at third and allowing no further damage.
In true Answerbacks fashion, the D-backs took advantage of some very wild pitching from Hendricks and reliever Luke Little. After a leadoff single, they got three straight walks and a pair of wild pitches to retake the lead. Blaze Alexander tacked on an RBI single with a hard-hit grounder through the right side of the infield, pushing the lead to 8-5.
The wheels fell off for the bullpen in the 7th. Luis Frias failed to retire any of the three hitters, putting Kyle Nelson in a bases loaded, no out jam entering the game. After two flyouts, Nelson was in position to minimize the damage but Garrett Cooper golfed out a two-strike slider for an RBI single and Michael Busch walked. That set the stage for Ian Happ, who line a cutter up and into the D-backs bullpen that gave Chicago an 11-8 lead.
From there, the D-backs chipped away at the deficit. Alexander recorded his third RBI of the night on a double to the left center gap. In the 8th, they loaded the bases with no outs but were only able to plate one run on a sacrifice fly to center to get within a run. Cubs closer Adbert Azolay retired the first two hitters easily, but Ketel Marte stepped up and smoked a 111 MPH line drive toward the pool area that hit an object just past the wall and ricocheted back onto the field for a game-tying home run.
The home run was confirmed on a Crew Chief Review. Arizona threatened to put the game away that inning, with two walks putting the winning run in scoring position, but Christian Walker couldn't sneak a ground ball past Nico Hoerner.
However, they would only need one more at-bat to finish off the game. After Kevin Ginkel stranded the ghost runner in the top half of the 10th, Randal Grichuk smoked a line drive off Cubs lefty Drew Smyly for the second straight night for the walk-off win.
The D-backs will look to ride the momentum from this comeback win into the rubber game of the series on Wednesday afternoon. Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt takes the mound for Arizona while left-hander Jordan Wicks will pitch for Chicago. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 12:40 PM Arizona time.
