Diamondbacks 8, Cubs 4

Corbin was in trouble out of the gate, having difficulty locating his pitches, and he walked two batters and hit another two in the first inning, forcing in a run without the Cubs getting a hit or even getting the ball out of the infield. However, the D-backs struck back in the second, thanks to the Cubs outfield clanking a ball from Corbin's bat off their glove (above), which helped lead to a three-run inning. Chicago struck back themselves, getting some two-out magic in both the fourth and fifth, tying things up on a two-run homer by another former Diamondback, Scott Hairston.

Jackson's pitch-count was high, but the Cubs manager seemed a little bullpen-shy - I wonder why? That came back to bite him, as five consecutive Diamondbacks reached base with two outs in the sixth. Paul Goldschmidt drove in the go-ahead run, and Cody Ross had a two-run single. That made a winner of Corbin, who went six innings and allowed four runs on six hits and two walks, with five strikeouts. His season ERA increased to 2.06, but I think this is the kind of regression which I can handle, the kind which still results in wins. The bullpen posted zeroes the rest of the way.

The offense got 13 hits, but only one was for extra-bases, a Ross double. Every starting position player had a hit, with Wil Nieves having three: Goldschmidt, Jason Kubel and Ross each had two-hit afternoons. The win keeps Arizona's lead at 2.5 games, and they head into St. Louis for a tough, four-game set against the NL Central leaders, which starts tomorrow.