SAN DIEGO — Zach Davies gave the Chicago Cubs bullpen a break Tuesday in his return to Petco Park, throwing six shutout innings in a 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
Davies, the former Padres starter who came over in the Yu Darvish trade, limited San Diego to one hit and two walks to help the Cubs even the series at a game apiece. Willson Contreras, Patrick Wisdom and Anthony Rizzo homered for the Cubs as they improved to 2-4 on the seven-game West Coast swing heading into Wednesday’s finale.
Neither team had a hit through the first three innings before Contreras cranked an upper-deck home run off Dinelson Lamet with one out in the fourth, the ninth straight game the Cubs have hit at least one home run.
Davies (3-3) held the Padres hitless until Fernando Tatis Jr. singled with two outs in the fourth. He retired the next seven batters he faced and left after 89 pitches.
Rizzo’s two-run double to right center in the fifth brought home Joc Pederson and Kris Bryant, and one out later Wisdom homered off Miguel Diaz, his eighth home run since his May 25 call-up and his seventh in a span of 28 at-bats.
Rizzo added a two-run, opposite-field shot off Nabil Crismatt in the seventh, giving him a four-RBI night. The Cubs have hit 18 home runs in their last nine games.
Andrew Chafin and Tommy Nance tossed a scoreless inning apiece before the Padres broke the shutout against Alec Mills in the ninth.
Jake Arrieta faces Darvish in Wednesday afternoon’s game.
Before the game, the Cubs placed starting pitcher Adbert Alzolay on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a blister on his right middle finger.
The Cubs recalled Kohl Stewart, whom they had sent to Triple-A Iowa on Monday. Manager David Ross said Stewart’s role was to be determined based on how the starters fared Tuesday and Wednesday in San Diego.
“It’s not all bad news,” Ross said. “We’ve got an off day (Thursday), so (Alzolay) misses one start. Hopefully he’s back as long as the blister is OK. In theory, it’s giving him a slight break in the action. ... He’s a big part of our success and where we need to go.”
The Cubs later activated Mills from the IL and optioned pitcher Cory Abbott to Iowa.
Shortstop Javier Báez remained out with a bruised thumb and is likely to sit out the entire Padres series as a precaution. Ross said Báez could pinch-run or play defense if needed, but with Darvish throwing Wednesday, it appears unlikely Báez would play.
Starting pitcher Trevor Williams continues to recover from an appendectomy but is only playing catch and is not close to coming back. Stewart replaced Williams in the rotation.
“The concern is making sure the wound on the inside heals and go from there,” Williams said before Tuesday’s game.
Williams said he felt “extreme stomach pain and I couldn’t stop throwing up” Saturday. He thought he just needed fluids, but the Cubs physician ordered him to go to the ER.
“They ran tests and said, ‘We need to take it out right now,’” Williams said. “Of course it happens during the season. It couldn’t have happened in November or December.”
_______
