Diamondbacks Mistakes Hand the Cubs Game, Series

Two key errors, a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, and a few pitching location mistakes overshadow good performances from Brandon Pfaadt and Ketel Marte

The Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 5-3 Wednesday afternoon to take the three game series two games to one. That sentence could just as easily been written to say the Diamondbacks beat the Diamondbacks.

Brandon Pfaadt pitched an excellent game, going seven innings and allowing just three runs, two earned, without walking a batter and striking out six. It was much-needed length from a starter after the bullpen had been heavily taxed in the previous two games, which both went into extra innings.

Pfaadt's efforts were undermined by an offense that could not come up with the big hits and a defense that faltered when it mattered most. The team was just 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base. For the entire three-game series, they were just 5-35, .143 with runners in scoring position. For the season they are batting .291 in such situations, so it's a more recent issue that has surfaced.

Ketel Marte continued his hot hitting with a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first. He also had a hustle double in the third inning and the D-backs lone base hit with a runner in scoring position in the 5th. Marte had four hits in the extra inning victory last night and is now batting .325 with a .976 OPS.

Eugenio Suarez had a very tough day on defense. He bobbled a routine chopper towards third in the 5th that was followed by an RBI double from Mike Tauchman on one of the few mislocated pitches by Pfaadt in the game.

Then in the pivotal 8th inning, with the Cubs leading 3-2 and Joe Mantiply pitching, poor defense came into play again. Suárez backed up on a ball that was hit deep to third by Dansby Swanson. He tried to backfoot a throw across the diamond but the speedy Swanson beat it out.

On the very next play, a popup into shallow left field by Cody Bellinger was chased by a diving Jace Peterson who was playing shortstop, but he was unable to come up with the ball. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was charging in but was unable to secure the baseball as he avoided a collision with Peterson. Gurriel was charged with an error for allowing Bellinger to get to second base.

The mistakes on that play were far from over however. With Swanson racing home, Suárez cut off the relay throw and made an off-balance throw into center field trying to nail Bellinger at second. He ended up at third base and later scored on a Michael Busch single, putting the Cubs up 5-2. Two errors were charged on that play.

Joc Pederson hit a solo homer against a left-hand pitcher to draw the D-backs within 5-3 but that's all they could muster in the ninth inning as they went down to defeat.

The Diamondbacks have typically been a very strong at defense and base running. But coming into this game the team rates as -2 runs defensively, ranking 17th in MLB. That rating certainly dropped after this game. Making matters worse is that many of the errors and misplays seem to be coming at the most critical parts of the game, directly contributing to losses.

A frustrated and upset Torey Lovullo didn't have an answer for why the team has struggled so much in this area in the early part of the season. "It's frustrating, it's very frustrating" Lovullo said. "It's not a personnel issue. I know that. We have guys that can pick up the baseball and get it done."

The team has suffered injuries, no doubt. But Lovullo was not in the mood to make excuses. Starting shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is on the injured list with a knee injury. Centerfielder Alek Thomas is out with a hamstring pull, and closer Paul Sewald is on the injured list with an oblique injury.

"Geraldo is missing, we know that. Once again, like the bullpen with Paul missing, that's not going to make us just flip the switch and start making plays. Everybody has got to tighten it down a little bit. I don't want to put pressure on people, but this is the big leagues, they've got to make plays"

Perhaps playing tight is exactly the problem, as expectations for the team have risen due to making it to the World Series last year. The team's record is now 9-10 as they head off to San Francisco to take on the Giants for a four-game series, starting Thursday night.