PHOENIX _ David Bote made his presence felt Saturday night by smacking two home runs and driving in five runs to lead the Cubs to a 9-1 victory over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field that snapped a two-game losing streak.
Bote smacked a three-run home run off starter Zack Godley to cap a five-run third inning. Bote followed with a two-run shot in the fifth off reliever Matt Koch. This marked the first multi-homer game of Bote's career.
A tense moment occurred in the seventh when Bote was drilled on the left arm by a pitch from Koch. Bote started to jog to first base when Diamondbacks catcher John Ryan Murphy started to follow him. That prompted the benches to empty, with Cubs second baseman Daniel Descalso yelling in the direction of Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke.
The inning started when Anthony Rizzo smacked a solo home run off Koch. After Bote was hit, Jason Heyward followed with a single to score Javier Baez.
Bote's production will make it difficult for the Cubs (13-12) to move him off the roster if they elect to add infielder Addison Russell to the roster if he completes a 40-game suspension after Wednesday. The Cubs could option Russell to Triple-A Iowa, where he currently is playing on a minor league assignment.
Meanwhile, the run support was plenty for Cubs starter Yu Darvish, who needed 56 pitches to complete the first two innings but managed to throw six innings and 110 pitches _ both season highs. This was Darvish's longest outing since he threw seven scoreless innings at San Francisco on Sept. 13, 2017, while pitching for the Dodgers.
Darvish allowed two hits while walking four and tying his season high with eight strikeouts. Darvish has struck out 23 in his last three starts.
Darvish retired nine of 10 batters until David Peralta led off the sixth with a homer.
In the first, Darvish threw five consecutive fastballs before striking out Jarrod Dyson. But catcher Taylor Davis, making his first start, visited the mound on 3-2 count to Peralta, who drew a walk on the next pitch.
Darvish drilled Adam Jones in the left shoulder to load the bases before striking out Christian Walker on an 87-mph slider and inducing Ketel Marte to ground to first.
In the second, Darvish nearly hit Godley with a 2-0 pitch before walking him and Dyson. Darvish struck out Eduardo Escobar _ who hit a double off him in the first, to end the threat.
Backup catcher Caleb Joseph pitched a scoreless ninth for the Diamondbacks.
