Lawlar's homer, Rodriguez's gem (with lucky break) lead D-backs to win

PHOENIX -- On Wednesday morning, manager Torey Lovullo credited Jordan Lawlar taking a 98.5 mph fastball to the helmet with jump-starting the D-backs’ five-run rally that culminated with Tuesday’s walk-off win.

On Wednesday afternoon during the D-backs’ 2-0 win in the series finale against the Cubs at Chase Field, Lawlar lit the fuse again, this time with his bat.

With the game knotted in a scoreless tie leading off the bottom of the sixth, Lawlar sent a Matthew Boyd changeup the opposite way to right field for his third homer of the season and the D-backs’ second lead of the series.

That was also the D-backs’ first run of the series against Cubs starting pitching, and it was all they managed in six innings against Boyd, but it was enough because D-backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez shut out the Cubs on two hits over seven innings, striking out nine in a much-needed gem.

“Everything was working,” Rodriguez said. “It was one of those days where you just go out there and follow your catcher, throw what the catcher is calling. This is the best I’ve felt all year on the mound.”

Rodriguez’s line nearly took a hit, but the D-backs caught a break in the top of the sixth.

Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, hitless and frustrated all series to this point, led off the sixth inning with a double, then took third on a Seiya Suzuki groundout. Crow-Armstrong remained at third on Alex Bregman’s flyout to shallow right, and Rodriguez indicated he would pitch to Michael Busch from the windup.

When left-handers wind up, they are more susceptible to steals of home than righties because their backs turn away from the runner on third. Crow-Armstrong is a plus-plus runner, so it was no surprise when he broke for home as soon as Rodriguez began his motion for a 2-1 pitch to Busch.

Catcher James McCann clocked it and shuffled to the right-hand batter’s box similar to a pitchout, and Rodriguez greatly sped up his delivery and threw home. It didn’t look quite right, and Crow-Armstrong – as well as Cubs third-base coach Quintin Berry – immediately gestured that Rodriguez had balked as Crow-Armstrong retreated safely back to third.

There was no call, but the umpiring crew had a lengthy conference in the infield to discuss it. Home-plate umpire Alfonso Márquez emerged from the scrum and announced on his stadium microphone that there was no call for a balk.

Crow-Armstrong went ballistic and had to be restrained by Berry, and manager Craig Counsell ran out from the dugout to get an explanation and protect his center fielder from getting ejected.

Play resumed, Busch drew a walk, Nico Hoerner struck out and Crow-Armstrong was stranded at third with the game still 0-0. Lawlar gave the D-backs the lead in the next plate appearance.

This wasn’t a call that is reviewable, but TV replays showed Rodriguez had stepped off the back of the rubber in the middle of his windup, which should have resulted in a balk. Márquez conceded as much to a pool reporter postgame.

“We just didn’t see it,” Márquez said. “After looking at the video, it looked like he stepped off.’’

The D-backs tacked on an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, making the non-call a little less impactful, but Crow-Armstrong was far from over it postgame.

"I saw four umpires miss a pretty obvious play,” he said. “They're out there every day, just like we are. Their one job is to get calls right, and if they get it wrong, they're supposed to talk about it, figure it out and get it right. And they didn't.”

Despite his frustration, Crow-Armstrong didn’t discredit Rodriguez’s performance.

“Now, it's not to take away from what Eduardo was doing to us today,” he said. “Because he was All-Star Eduardo Rodriguez, and he was nails."

With the win, the D-backs gained ground on the Wild Card-leading Cubs and kept pace with the Phillies and Padres. Arizona heads into a four-game showdown vs. the Giants one game out of the playoff picture.

“For us to do what we did today really makes a statement,” Lovullo said. “So we’re going to fly to San Francisco and it’s going to be bumping on the way there, I know it. They deserve it. I want them to enjoy this because they deserve it. And then at some point tomorrow we’ve got to wake up and get ready for a very stubborn San Francisco team.”