Rizzo Drives In 6, Cubs Rally Late To Beat D-Backs, 9-6
PHOENIX (AP) — Anthony Rizzo hadn't done much in the Chicago Cubs' swing through the Southwest.
Until Saturday night.
Rizzo, 2-for-26 in the first four games of the trip, matched his career high with six RBIs and the Cubs snapped the Arizona Diamondbacks' five-game winning streak with a 9-6 victory.
Rizzo doubled in three runs in the Cubs' four-run fifth inning, then broke a 6-6 tie with a three-run homer into the Chase Field swimming pool area off Enrique Burgos (0-2) in the ninth.
"Yeah, I've been grinding. It comes with the territory of the season," Rizzo said. "Just keep battling, keep going through the at-bats and the pitches, not try to do too much, and tonight it paid off."
Jason Motte (2-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning to get the win. Pedro Strop pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
The Cubs, winners of 10 of their last 13, scored five runs in the final two innings after falling behind 6-4.
"We made a couple of mistakes. Of course we're not perfect," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said, "but you've got to love the fight within the group, man. I'm really proud of our boys."
Rizzo's six RBIs tied a career best set on Sept. 16, 2012. His heroics came one night after fellow first baseman Paul Goldschmidt tied the game with a two-run homer in the 10th inning in what eventually was a 5-4 Arizona win in 13.
"It's the battle of All-Star first basemen these last two nights," Maddon said. "They got us last night, Riz got them tonight — tremendously big at-bats. We needed that."
David Peralta doubled in three runs, and Tuffy Gosewisch homered for Arizona.
"It was a tough one tonight," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "Obviously when you are ahead, you don't like to lose it, but we got beat. They are a good team and they kept playing and good things happened for them."
The Diamondbacks led 6-4 through seven, but Starlin Castro singled with two outs in the eighth, Oliver Perez hit Miguel Montero with a pitch and Jorge Soler doubled both runners home.
In the ninth, Dexter Fowler singled with one out and Kris Bryant reached on an error on third baseman Yasmany Tomas to set up Rizzo's ninth homer of the season.
Rizzo said it had helped to have seen Burgos the previous night. The Arizona reliever said the Cubs slugger hit a slider that was flat over the plate.
"I think it was one mistake, one pitch," Burgos said. "It wasn't like I was all over the place, it was one pitch. "
The Cubs coughed up a lead earlier.
Arizona's Rubby De La Rosa cruised through four scoreless innings before the Cubs erupted in the fifth. After De La Rosa hit Bryant to bring in a run, Rizzo followed with a double off the left-field wall, clearing the bases and putting Chicago up 4-2.
The lead didn't last long.
With one out and a runner on first in Arizona's fifth, Nick Ahmed hit a soft grounder to short for what looked to be an easy inning-ending double play. But second baseman Addison Russell dropped the sort toss from shortstop Starlin Castro and both runners were safe. Cubs starter Jake Arrieta walked Goldschmidt to load the bases, and Peralta doubled deep in the right-field gap to bring all three runners home and put Arizona back on top 5-4.
Gosewisch's shot into Arizona's bullpen down the left-field line made it 6-4. Both of his career homers have come against the Cubs.
TRAINERS ROOM
Diamondbacks: RH reliever David Hernandez, coming back from Tommy John surgery, pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Mobile Friday night. He is scheduled to pitch again Monday and could join the big league club later next week.
UP NEXT
Cubs: RHP Jason Hammel (3-1, 270 ERA) tries to take the rubber game of the series for the Cubs. He's 2-0 with a 1.50 in his last five starts. The team goes to San Diego for the final three games of Chicago's six-game western trip.
Diamondbacks: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-3, 5.52) looks for his first win at home. Hellickson is winless in four starts at Chase Field.
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