Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs to power the Chicago Cubs to an 11-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
Geovany Soto and Marlon Byrd added solo homers as the Cubs rebounded from a 13-5 loss in Thursday’s series opener and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Randy Wells (3-0) remained unbeaten on the season despite six shaky innings in which he allowed five runs on eight hits. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.
After spotting the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead, Chicago chipped away at the lead off starter Rodrigo Lopez and extended it against Arizona’s beleaguered bullpen.
Soriano’s sixth-inning blast put the Cubs ahead for good at 6-4 and they piled it on against the bullpen, scoring three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Kosuke Fukudome had two hits, drove in a run and scored three times for Chicago.
Chris Snyder hit a solo homer and Mark Reynolds and Cole Gillespie had RBI doubles for Arizona, which had scored 25 runs in its previous two games.
Lopez (1-1) went six innings, giving up six runs -- two earned -- on seven hits. His fielding error in the sixth opened the door for Soriano’s momentum-changing blast.
Arizona | Chi. Cubs | |
Rodrigo Lopez | Player | Randy Wells |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.0 | IP | 6.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 8 |
7 | Hits | 8 |
3.00 | ERA | 7.50 |
Arizona | Chi. Cubs | |
Cole Gillespie | Player | Marlon Byrd |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
4 | TB | 5 |
.500 | Avg | 1.000 |