Cubs routed by Diamondbacks 8-1 as Eugenio Suárez provides power surger
PHOENIX – Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon could not crack the Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suárez.
In the Cubs’ 0-1 loss Friday, Taillon faced Suárez twice, and both times the veteran right-handed hitter launched two-run home runs into the left-field stands.
Taillon, making his season debut, was charged with six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Most of the damage against him was courtesy of Suárez.
Taillon first dug in against Suárez in the second inning, after giving up a leadoff single to Pavin Smith. Taillon’s first-pitch cutter hung over the middle of the plate, and Suárez jumped on it to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead.
The fourth inning presented a similar situation. This time, Smith was standing on second with no outs. And Taillon stuck closer to the edges of the zone. He got ahead right away with an inside slider. But he was too far up and then in with his next three pitches, forcing him to throw something over the plate in a 3-1 count. Naylor lifted the slider into the seats.
The other two runs charged to Taillon scored on Geraldo Perdomo’s fourth-inning single and Smith’s fifth-inning automatic double off reliever Eli Morgan, which bounced over the right-field fence to drive in the inherited runner.
The Diamondbacks extended their lead in the seventh inning with two runs against Brad Keller in his Cubs debut.
Meanwhile, the Cubs offense that had put up 10 runs the night before only managed one on Friday, on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s second-inning double.