Nico Hoerner scored the tying run with a mad dash on a wild pitch in the ninth and delivered the tiebreaking single in the 11th as the Chicago Cubs notched a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Phoenix.
Michael Busch homered in his fifth consecutive game to tie the Cubs’ franchise record. Hoerner and Garrett Cooper had two hits apiece as Chicago won its third consecutive game.
Jake McCarthy had an RBI single in the second that represented Arizona’s lone hit through the first 7 1/3 innings. Corbin Carroll added a run-scoring single in the eighth for the Diamondbacks, who finished with three hits while losing for the second time in six games.
Chicago’s Nick Madrigal started the top of the 11th on second base before Bryce Jarvis (0-1) walked Busch and allowed a single to Cooper to load the bases. Hoerner followed with a hard-hit single to right to score Madrigal and give the Cubs a one-run lead.
Keegan Thompson (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for Chicago. Automatic runner Ketel Marte reached third with one out in the 11th before Thompson retired Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a short fly to right and struck out Christian Walker to end it.
Chicago’s Ben Brown allowed one run and one hit in six innings and retired the final 13 batters he faced. He struck out four and walked two.
Cubs hurlers retired 17 straight Arizona batters until Randal Grichuk drilled a pinch-hit double to left with one out in the eighth.
After Drew Smyly intentionally walked Marte with two outs, Grichuk advanced to third on a wild pitch before Carroll laced a run-scoring single to right-center to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead.
Chicago tied the game in the ninth off Kevin Ginkel. Hoerner and Mike Tauchman both singled with one out before Ginkel struck out Miles Mastrobuoni.
Ian Happ came up, and Ginkel’s second pitch was in the dirt, caromed off catcher Gabriel Moreno and went off to the right in front of the Arizona dugout. Hoerner, who was on second base, never stopped running and beat Moreno’s throw to the plate as the Cubs tied the score.
Arizona’s Merrill Kelly gave up one run and three hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Busch tied the club record in the second inning when he smacked an 0-2 cutter from Kelly over the fence in right-center.
The other Cubs to homer in five consecutive games are Hack Wilson (1928), Ryne Sandberg (1989), Sammy Sosa (1998) and current third baseman Christopher Morel (2023).
The Diamondbacks tied the score in the bottom of the second on McCarthy’s RBI single to center.