Carson Kelly hit two homers, Kyle Tucker, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki also homered, and the host Chicago Cubs blew a six-run lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks before recovering for a 13-11 victory on Friday afternoon.
Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a three-run homer in a 10-run eighth inning to give the Diamondbacks an 11-7 lead, but the Cubs responded with six runs in their half of the eighth while opening an eight-game homestand against a trio of National League contenders.
Arizona right-hander Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong to open the Cubs’ eighth before Kelly’s three-run homer, his second blast of the game, closed the deficit to 11-10.
Happ singled off Joe Mantiply (0-1), before Tucker hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Suzuki made it back-to-back blasts.
The Diamondbacks sent 13 men to the plate in the eighth and the Cubs had 12 in the bottom half. The combined 16 runs were the most in the eighth inning in Wrigley Field history.
The Cubs lead the majors with 137 runs.
Ryan Pressly (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth and was credited with the victory.
Kelly, a former Diamondback, drove in five runs and Happ had three hits. Happ’s grand slam in the seventh helped the Cubs stretch a 2-1 lead to five. Tucker and Busch also had three hits apiece.
Six Diamondbacks had two hits apiece, and Randal Grichuk had two hits and two RBIs in the eighth. His two-run double off Porter Hodge gave Arizona an 8-7 lead before Gurriel capped the inning with his homer.
Corbin Carroll had two singles and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who had a five-game winning streak broken. Carroll has reached base in all 20 games this season and has 12 RBIs in the last nine games.
Kelly is 12 for 25 with six homers and 18 RBIs in the last nine games.
Happ’s grand slam with one out in the seventh inning gave the Cubs a 6-1 lead off reliever Ryne Nelson, after Kelly’s two-run homer in the second began the scoring against former Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes.
Burnes gave up two runs and six hits in six innings, with three strikeouts and no walks. He gave up two hits in his final four innings.
–Field Level Media
