PHOENIX – Doug Davis had his second masterful performance in three starts. This one came against the big bats of the Chicago Cubs.
Davis allowed two hits over seven innings while Chad Tracy and Justin Upton each drove in three runs in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 10-0 rout of the Cubs on Wednesday.
Davis – just the second left-hander to start against the Cubs this season – struck out seven, walked three and hit a batter as the Diamondbacks won a series for only the second time this season.
Tracy had three hits, including a two-run double and a home run. Upton brought three more home with a double in Arizona’s five-run seventh inning. The Cubs walked 10, eight in the last two innings, including three with the bases loaded, to finish their road trip 2-4.
“We’re not going to be able to just go out there and play without intensity and go through the motions and think we can win baseball games, I can tell you that,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “And the quicker that sinks in, I think, the better.”
Tony Peña and Juan Gutierrez finished off Arizona’s third shutout of the season, the second involving Davis, whose record is a deceptive 2-3 but with a 2.91 ERA.
Two of Davis’ past three starts have been shutout victories.
“Fifty pitches after two and he ends up going seven innings,” manager Bob Melvin said. “For a guy that tends to throw a lot of pitches and get himself in some jams, this stretch has been awfully good.”
The Diamondbacks jumped on Ryan Dempster for three runs in the first. Felipe Lopez drew a leadoff walk and Augie Ojeda singled to put runners at first and third. Both scored on Tracy’s ground rule double that bounced over the fence in right. Tracy advanced to third on Mark Reynolds’ single, then scored when Eric Byrnes bounced into a fielder’s choice.
Arizona made it 4-0 when Tracy lined the first pitch of the third inning into the right-field seats for his second home run of the year.
Dempster (1-1) threw six innings plus one batter, allowing five runs and six hits.
He struck out four and walked three. But the Cubs’ offense couldn’t carry over the momentum from its 11-3 victory the previous night.
Davis gave up a one-out single to Ryan Theroit in the first inning, then didn’t allow a hit to the next 22 batters before Aaron Miles’ one-out single in the seventh.
“I know they’re an aggressive team and they swing a lot,” Davis said, “so I was trying to get them to hit my pitch.”