Cubs 13, Diamondbacks 11: That game was just bonkers!

You have seen me write here, many times, about all the wild double-digit run games played at Wrigley Field back in the 1970s, with the wind blowing out.

If you have ever wondered what that sort of game felt like, you just experienced it in the Cubs’ wacky 13-11 win over the Diamondbacks on, yes, a warm and windy afternoon at the ol’ ballyard.

The only difference — the teams seemed to forget the wind was blowing out for the first six-plus innings. This was a 2-1 game going to the bottom of the seventh! And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.

Let’s do everything in order because otherwise… it’s just too bonkers, as the headline reads. Or maybe it’s just bonkers anyway.

Colin Rea threw really well for four innings, allowing just three baserunners, one on an error, and no D-backs runner got past first base in that time.

Rea had some defensive help. First, this nice grab by Ian Happ [VIDEO].

Then, this running grab by Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

If not for those, this might have been a different game entirely for Rea.

Meanwhile, the Cubs fashioned a 2-0 lead thanks to Carson Kelly, who homered after a PCA double [VIDEO].

That one did not need any help from the wind. Check out the launch angle [VIDEO].

One more fact about Kelly’s homer from BCB’s JohnW53:

Carson Kelly’s home run was his fifth of the season. It came in his 41st plate appearance. No previous Cub had hit even four homers in 41 or fewer PA during the team’s first 22 games. Frank Secory hit three, in 1946, and Scott Hairston matched Secory, in 2013. Eleven players hit three. The last was Matt Szczur, in 2016.

Rea started to get hit in the fifth. A double by Gabriel Moreno was followed by two outs, but then a single moved Moreno to third and Geraldo Perdomo doubled in a run to make it 2-1. Caleb Thielbar came in and walked the first man he faced to load the bases, but got Josh Naylor to ground out to end the inning [VIDEO].

It’s 2-1 after five. It’s also 2-1 after six, with a nice scoreless inning thrown by Brad Keller. The bullpen was set up the way the Cubs want it, with Julian Merry weather, Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly set to go in the seventh, eighth and ninth.

Merryweather did his part with a scoreless seventh.

There are two and a half innings to go, at most, and it is still 2-1.

The Cubs upset that proverbial applecart with a five-run seventh. Nico Hoerner and PCA singled and Kelly walked to load the bases. Vidal Bruján was next, and struck out.

That brought up Happ. And he delivered a ball into the bleachers [VIDEO].

Fact about Happ’s slam from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs had gone 23 for 70 for the season with runners on third base through a single by Nico Hoerner on Sunday night at Los Angeles. They were 0 for 24 since then until Ian Happ’s grand slam.

Also, Happ came into this game batting just .210/.306/.383 in 98 career PA with the bases loaded. That’s … not very good. Most players hit way better than that with three men on base. It wound up as Happ’s fifth career grand slam.

The Cubs weren’t done in that inning. Kyle Tucker tripled and after Seiya Suzuki struck out, Michael Busch singled to make it 7-1 [VIDEO].

That hit might have changed everything. Until then, it appeared Hodge would start the inning, even with a five-run lead. But now that it was a six-run cushion, Craig Counsell called on the just-recalled Jordan Wicks to start the eighth.

What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty, as you now know. The first three D-backs had solid hits off Wicks, loading the bases. That was it for Wicks and Hodge came in. I’m thinking Hodge does better with a clean inning, especially because Eugenio Suárez was up next, and … oh, no, Porter [VIDEO].

Suárez has now played five games against the Cubs this year. He is batting .263/.364/1.053 (5-for-19, all five hits home runs) against the Cubs. Against all other teams he is batting .113/.230/.226 (6-for-53) with no home runs and 23 strikeouts. I mean… just walk the guy every time he comes to the plate. Even a bases-loaded walk wouldn’t have been as bad as the slam! That was Suárez’ 36th career homer against the Cubs, which leads all active players.

Still, the Cubs had a 7-5 lead… but not for long. Hodge got Moreno to hit a line drive to Hoerner, but then issued a walk and gave up a single. He managed to strike out Corbin Carroll for the second out, but Geraldo Perdomo singled to make it 7-6 and Randal Grichuk’s two-run double gave Arizona the lead. Another walk was issued by Hodge and that was it, with Counsell calling on Ethan Roberts.

Roberts did not do what was hoped. Instead, he served up a three-run homer to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the D-backs had a 10-run inning and a four-run lead.

Perhaps you don’t believe me about all of this. Okay, here’s Gurriel’s homer [VIDEO].

The Cubs were thus down by four heading to the bottom of the eighth. Friends, the wind was still blowing out and that lead meant essentially nothing. Hoerner was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and PCA walked.

That brought up Kelly. Thank you, wind! [VIDEO]

Just like that, it’s 11-10. Fun fact about Kelly’s sixth homer of the year:

11 players are tied for the National League lead with 6 home runs.

One has more Homers than Strikeouts.

CARSON KELLY.
6 HR, 4 K

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 18, 2025

That brought Justin Turner out of the dugout to pinch hit for Bruján. He struck out. (I’m beginning to think Turner might be done, my friends.)

The next hitter was Happ, who singled.

Tucker gave the Cubs the lead back [VIDEO].

Then Seiya Suzuki joined the home-run parade [VIDEO].

That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

In the seventh and eighth innings, the teams combined for 21 runs on 21 hits — and that’s with no scoring at all in the top of the seventh.

So the Cubs go to the ninth with a two-run lead and Ryan Pressly on the mound and though Pressly’s been better lately, with the wind blowing out…

But Pressly got Moreno to pop up to Busch, and retired Jake McCarthy on a ground out on which Busch made a nice stop. Alek Thomas hit a double and…

All’s well that ends well! [VIDEO]

There are a few fun facts to talk about after that win. First, the 16 combined runs scored in the eighth inning is a Wrigley Field record. More on that sort of thing from BCB’s JohnW53:

The MLB record for combined runs in an inning is 19, by the Indians (13) and Red Sox (6) in the eighth inning on April 10, 1977.

The Modern NL record is 17, by the Braves (10) and Giants (7) in the ninth inning on June 20, 1912. The Rockies (13) and Giants (4) tied the record in the fifth inning on May 5, 2016.

The Cubs, then known as the White Stockings, scored 18 and Detroit scored none in the seventh inning on Sept. 6, 1883.

About that 10-run inning by the D-backs:

The Diamondbacks are the first team to score 10 runs in an inning this season.

And they lost.

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 18, 2025

Cubs 13, Diamondbacks 11: That game was just bonkers!

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