PHOENIX (AP) Kyle Tucker hit his first home run with the Chicago Cubs, leading his new team to a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
Shota Imanaga pitched seven effective innings as Chicago bounced back from Friday’s 8-1 loss to Arizona. Ryan Pressly worked a rocky ninth inning for his first save with the Cubs.
Tucker had three hits. With one out in the fifth and Jon Berti aboard after a leadoff single, Tucker hit a drive to right off Brandon Pfaadt to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.
Tucker was acquired in a December trade with Houston.
Rookie Matt Shaw added his first major league homer for the Cubs, a pinch-hit drive to left in the seventh off Jalen Beeks.
Imanaga (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in his second start of the season.
Chicago had its lead cut to 4-3 on Eugenio Suárez’s two-run drive off Pressly in the ninth. It was Suárez’s major league-high fourth homer this season.
With two out and two runners on, Corbin Carroll hit a soft, one-bouncer to charging shortstop Dansby Swanson. The speedy Carroll reached on an infield single, but pinch-runner Garrett Hampson overran third and was tagged by Swanson for the final out of the game.
Pressly was acquired in a trade with the Astros in January.
Pfaadt (0-1) allowed six hits in six innings in his first start since he agreed to a $45 million, five-year deal with Arizona.
Gage Workman made his MLB debut for the Cubs, batting eighth and playing third base. He struck out twice and made a nice play in the field, backhanding a grounder and throwing out Suárez.
Workman, a Rule 5 pick from Detroit in December, grew up in nearby Chandler and played at Arizona State.
The Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong threw out Josh Naylor trying to advance to third on a fly to center field to end the Arizona fourth. Naylor was originally ruled safe by umpire Phil Cuzzi but the call was overturned on review.
The Diamondbacks went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Chicago’s Matthew Boyd opposes Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez in a battle of lefties in Sunday’s series finale.
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Happ LF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| K. Tucker RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .250 |
| S. Suzuki DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .095 |
| M. Busch 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .235 |
| D. Swanson SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| P. Crow-Armstrong CF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
| M. Amaya C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| G. Workman 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a- M. Shaw PH-3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .158 |
| J. Berti 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .400 |
- a-homered for Workman in the 7th
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K. Marte 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .357 |
| C. Carroll RF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| L. Gurriel LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 |
| R. Grichuk DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .400 |
| a- P. Smith PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| J. Naylor 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .308 |
| E. Suarez 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .400 |
| G. Moreno C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| G. Hampson PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| J. McCarthy CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| G. Perdomo SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .273 |
- a-struck out for Grichuk in the 8th
- 2B – K. Tucker (2), M. Amaya (4)
- HR – K. Tucker, M. Shaw
- RBI – K. Tucker 2 (4), M. Amaya (7), M. Shaw
- 2-Out RBI – M. Amaya
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – D. Swanson, G. Workman
- 2B – R. Grichuk (2), J. Naylor
- HR – E. Suarez (4)
- RBI – E. Suarez 2 (7), J. McCarthy (2)
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – P. Smith, G. Perdomo 2 (2)
- Outfield Assist – P. Crow-Armstrong
- DP – (Crow-Armstrong-Workman)
- E – M. Shaw (2)
- E – B. Pfaadt, J. Martinez
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Imanaga(W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.82 |
| P. Hodge(H, 2) | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| R. Pressly(S, 1) | 1.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 |
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Pfaadt(L, 0-1) | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4.50 |
| J. Beeks | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 |
| B. Jarvis | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.75 |
| J. Martinez | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
- Pitches-Strikes – S. Imanaga 91-63, P. Hodge 18-14, R. Pressly 29-18
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – S. Imanaga 8-7, P. Hodge 1-0, R. Pressly 2-1
- Batters Faced – S. Imanaga 26, P. Hodge 5, R. Pressly 7
- Pitches-Strikes – B. Pfaadt 78-54, J. Beeks 8-7, B. Jarvis 17-11, J. Martinez 9-6
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – B. Pfaadt 9-1, J. Beeks 1-2, B. Jarvis 1-0, J. Martinez 4-0
- Batters Faced – B. Pfaadt 25, J. Beeks 4, B. Jarvis 4, J. Martinez 4