PHOENIX — The Cubs offense didn’t show much fight until the ninth inning, when Ian Happ led off with a solo homer.
In the Cubs’ 6-4 loss Friday, they blasted three home runs in the ninth inning but fell short.
The Cubs were trailing the Diamondbacks 6-0 entering the inning. Lefty Justin Steele gave up six runs, on a pair of three-run homers, in six innings. It was the first time he’d allowed multiple home runs since July 16 against the Red Sox.
The Cubs hadn’t even moved a runner into scoring position in the first eight innings of the game. Then, Happ broke open the Diamondbacks pitching staff’s shutout bid. Cody Bellinger drew a walk, and Seiya Suzuki put another ball into Chase Field seats.
The Cubs had moved Suzuki from right field to DH before the game with a sore right hand, but it didn’t seem to affect his power on that swing.
Christopher Morel went back-to-back with Suzuki to cut the Diamondbacks’ lead to two runs, but that was as close as they would get.
With the win, the Diamondbacks moved up to 1 1⁄2 games back of the Cubs, who occupy the second NL Wild Card spot.
The Cubs have lost five of six games against the Diamondbacks, with two more on the schedule.
“Obviously today wasn’t exactly what we wanted,” Happ said. “But a little bit of momentum swinging the bats, and now we just go day to day, and try to win a couple of ballgames here and get back home.”
