ESPN News Services
CHICAGO — Carson Kelly homered twice, Kyle Tucker hit a go-ahead two-run homer in a six-run eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs outslugged the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday.
Ian Happ hit a grand slam. Seiya Suzuki went deep and the Cubs pulled out a wild win in which the two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings. The Cubs scored 11 runs in that stretch, while the D-backs scored 10.
It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
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“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
Chicago was sailing along with a 7-1 lead thanks to Kelly’s two-run drive against Diamondbacks starter Corbin Burnes in the second and Happ’s grand slam off Ryne Nelson in a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were on their way to a lopsided win, things took a wild turn.
Eugenio Suárez cut it to 7-5 in the eighth with a grand slam against Porter Hodge. Randal Grichuk gave Arizona an 8-7 lead when his chopper scooted under third baseman Gage Workman’s glove for a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a three-run drive, making it 11-7, but the Cubs answered in a big way in the bottom half.
Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. After Happ singled with one out, Tucker and Suzuki hit back-to-back drives against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
“We didn’t pitch well in the eighth, we didn’t play good defense in the eighth. I can’t blame the weather, frankly,” Counsell said. “It was a lot of hard-hit baseballs, and they did a nice job and we couldn’t stop the damage. But we come out and we get our leadoff hitter on, and their bullpen was a little bit tacked from the last couple of days in Florida, too, and we ended up putting together an unbelievable inning.”
Ryan Pressly (2-1) recorded the final three outs, and the Cubs opened the weekend series on a winning note. Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
Chicago’s Colin Rea went a season-high 4⅔ innings, allowing one run and five hits. The 34-year-year-old right-hander struck out five and walked none in his second start and fifth appearance. The Cubs moved him to the rotation following ace Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow injury.
Burnes allowed two runs and six hits over six innings. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner struck out three and did not walk a batter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.