The Cubs started out Saturday just like they had ended Friday, pouring on lots of runs and home runs, despite a temperature 25 degrees colder at Wrigley Field.
Home runs by Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki led a six-run onslaught off Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen in the first two innings and the Cubs then got stellar relief pitching in a 6-2 win over Arizona.
The D-backs scored first, a leadoff home run by Corbin Carroll off Ben Brown.
But the Cubs did not let that Arizona lead last long. Ian Happ walked leading off the bottom of the first and Kyle Tucker’s triple tied the game [VIDEO].
After Suzuki struck out, Busch’s single gave the Cubs the lead [VIDEO].
The Cubs blew the game open in the second. Miguel Amaya led off with a walk and went to second on Jon Berti’s single. A fly to right by Happ advanced Amaya to third, where he scored on a ground out by Tucker [VIDEO].
That made it 3-1 Cubs, and the next batter, Suzuki, made it 5-1 [VIDEO].
Busch ran the count full and then also homered [VIDEO].
More on the back-to-back jacks from BCB’s JohnW53:
Friday and Saturday were the 13th time that the Cubs have hit back-to-back homers on consecutive days. The previous time was July 25-26, 2023, against the White Sox on the South Side. Dansby Swanson and Christopher Morel did it the first day; Ian Happ and Cody Bellinger, the second.
The Cubs have hit back-to-back homers twice in the same game 18 times and hit them in both games of a doubleheader three times.
The first two innings took an hour to play, partly because of all that Cubs offense but also because Brown was having trouble throwing strikes. He wound up making it through four innings, despite issuing four walks. All told, he threw 100 pitches and somehow, 63 of them were strikes. He did strike out six [VIDEO].
More on Brown’s unusual outing from BCB’s JohnW53:
Ben Brown became just the ninth Cubs starter since 1901 to exit after four innings, having allowed one run on a homer. He was the first to do it while walking four batters. Archie Reynolds, in 1969, and Duane Underwood Jr., in 2018, walked three. Brown’s six strikeouts tied Matt Clement, in 2002, for most in the nine starts. Clement walked one. Adrian Sampson fanned seven and walked two at St. Louis on Oct. 2, 2021. That was the most recent of the games before Saturday.
Here are some details on Brown’s pitches in this game [VIDEO].
Also of note regarding Brown’s 100 pitch outing:
This is the first time a Cubs starter has gone 100 pitches this season.
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 19, 2025
The game began to go much faster after the second inning. The Cubs managed just three baserunners after their early six-run outburst: A double by Dansby Swanson in the fifth, a walk by Happ in the seventh and a two-out double by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth. None of those runners scored. Of note regarding PCA’s double:
7 straight games with an extra-base hit for Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Longest extra-base hit streak in the Majors this season.
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 19, 2025
Cubs relievers were up to the task of holding down the Arizona offense. Caleb Thielbar retired all six hitters he faced. Brad Keller threw a 1-2-3 seventh on only 10 pitches. And Daniel Palencia finished up by… well, sorry, Daniel, Tim Tawa hit a two-out ninth-inning homer off you, and then there was a two-out walk. Palencia did finish up with this ground ball to Nico Hoerner [VIDEO].
Cubs pitchers at one point retired 15 consecutive D-backs hitters between a two-out walk to Geraldo Perdomo in the fourth by Brown, to Tawa’s homer off Palencia. One thing I think the Cubs brass did learn in this game is that Palencia really isn’t a two-inning pitcher. They tried to do that with him in the final game in San Diego and it didn’t work, and it didn’t work here, either. Palencia threw 27 pitches overall. Eleven of those were to the last three hitters, beginning with Tawa. So it looks like 15-16 pitches is Palencia’s optimal outing length. At one point he threw a couple of nasty fastballs at 101. A 6-1 ninth-inning lead is a good time to find this out, but in the future, I think Craig Counsell should limit Palencia to one inning at a time, especially since after the home run Ryan Pressly got up to get loose, and that shouldn’t have had to happen in a 6-1 game.
Apart from that, the complaint department is closed. The Cubs got enough timely hitting and good pitching to win this game, and take the series. Also important: This win gave the Cubs the season series over the Diamondbacks, with four wins in six games and one remaining Sunday. That could mean something for playoff positioning, and yes I do think the Cubs are going to be in the postseason.
The Cubs will go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon, weather permitting (and I suspect eventually, weather will permit). Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Merrill Kelly will go for the D-backs. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
