The Cubs won't face the Diamondbacks again until September 4 at Wrigley Field and that's probably just fine with everyone on the pitching staff who's been getting pounded by Paul Goldschmidt all weekend.
Goldschmidt homered for the second time in the series and overall, went 5-for-10 with four walks, four runs scored, the two homers and six RBI. His third-inning homer off Jason Hammel proved to be the difference in the game as the Diamondbacks held on for a 4-3 win over the Cubs, winning the series and sending the Cubs back to Wrigley Field with a 3-3 road trip. That isn't bad, but given the disaster Friday and the closeness of this one, the Cubs have to be disappointed at not doing better.
Hammel had another good outing despite allowing all four D'backs runs over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one and apart from the Goldschmidt homer, threw pretty well overall. He increased his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 8.29, which sounds great but is only third in the major leagues behind Bartolo Colon (15.33) and Michael Pineda (14.75) and those two are pretty crazy, because the major-league record for a single season is 11.63, set by Phil Hughes of the Twins last year.
The Cubs gave up a run in the first inning but got it right back on a solo homer by Miguel Montero in the top of the second. After Arizona's three-run third, the Cubs brought the game back to within one run on a two-run homer by Chris Coghlan. That's pretty crazy, too. Coghlan has seven home runs in 125 at-bats; his career high is nine, set his rookie year (2009, 504 at-bats) and tied last year (385 at-bats). What's even crazier is that he has seven homers and 11 RBI. The fewest RBI for anyone who had seven home runs in a full season is 12, set by Jeff Clement of the Pirates in 2010. You can be fairly certain that Coghlan will have more than 12 RBI this year. At least we hope so.
The Cubs did have a shot in the ninth inning after Kris Bryant (whose hitting streak was halted at 12 games) and Anthony Rizzo made two easy outs. Starlin Castro singled and Montero ran the count full and had he walked, Jorge Soler would have had a chance to tie the game or give the Cubs the lead. But Montero lofted a lazy fly to left and the game was over. Speaking of Soler, it was nice to see him go 2-for 3, a single and a double. Soler is hitting .310/.365/.425 in May (27-for-87) with seven doubles and a home run. I think he's just on the cusp of going on a real tear; perhaps it will happen when the Cubs return to Wrigley Field starting Monday.
Speaking of which, I think it was a mistake for the Cubs to schedule Monday's contest as an afternoon affair, as first noted by BCBer MikeJW in the recap to Saturday's game. I realize it's Memorial Day and I don't believe the Cubs have ever scheduled a night game for Memorial Day or Labor Day, both Monday holidays, but with a flight back from Phoenix not likely to arrive much before midnight, it would have been better to give themselves more time. Tsuyoshi Wada, Monday's starter, is likely in Chicago resting up, but the rest of the team might be a little tired, especially after the 13-inning game Friday and one that ran 3:14 Saturday evening.
The upcoming homestand isn't going to be easy, either, with two of the best and hottest teams in baseball coming in. The Nationals, who arrive Monday with Tanner Roark taking the mound against Wada, were 7-13 and eight games out of first place on April 27 but have gone 19-5 since then. The Royals, who arrive Friday, have won 10 of their last 15, despite losing Sunday to the Cardinals.
The Cubs aren't doing badly either lately, winning nine of their last 15. They now trail the Cardinals by 3½ games in the N.L. Central, but will have to be on their best game to beat the two first-place teams coming in. It ought to be fun, at the very least. We haven't seen the Cubs host teams like this with a real chance to win two series in several seasons. This is what we've been waiting for, meaningful baseball, and I intend to savor it, whatever the result.