PHOENIX – Cubs hitter Miguel Amaya pulled his up-the-middle line drive just enough to put it out of reach of diving Diamondbacks center fielder Jake McCarthy. The ball nicked the end of McCarthy’s glove, providing enough time for three runs to score.
In the Cubs’ 10-6 win Thursday, Amaya’s fifth-inning double gave the Cubs a four-run lead, paving the way for the team’s first victory of the 2025 season.
The Cubs offense put early pressure on Zac Gallen, the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter. Though the Diamondbacks scored first, the Cubs authored a three-run second inning to take the lead, with back-to-back run-scoring hits from Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker.
Then Happ, building off of his two-run double in that second inning, roped a line drive over the right field fence in the fourth for the team’s first home run of the season. After Amaya’s three-run double put the Cubs ahead 7-3, Nico Hoerner tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth. And in the ninth, Amaya hit a two-run double into the left-field corner to put the Cubs’ scoring into the double digits.
Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele navigated hard contact to limit the Diamondbacks to three runs through five innings. Nate Pearson relieved him in the sixth, issued three straight free passes and surrendered two straight sacrifice flies before escaping the inning. Lefty Caleb Theilbar and right-hander Porter Hodge pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Then Ryan Pressly, working with a comfortable lead, gave up a run on a groundout in the ninth.