PHOENIX -- Eugenio Suárez wasn’t afraid to face the music after his two-error game.

“[Accountability] for me is very important,” Suárez said after the D-backs’ 5-3 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. “You have to make those plays, you got to help the pitching -- they work hard and expect the defense to help them. Today, I didn’t help my teammates.”

Ultimately, Suárez’s first two-error game since April 1, 2021 (12th career two-error game) was the difference maker on Wednesday, as he contributed to two of the Cubs' five runs.

In the fifth inning, Suárez fielded a soft-hit grounder from the speedster Nico Hoerner, but ultimately lost control of the ball on the transfer. One pitch later, Mike Tauchman laced a first-pitch fastball for a double, scoring Hoerner and tying the game at 1.

With the D-backs trailing 3-2 in the eighth inning and Dansby Swanson on second, shortstop Jace Peterson threw home after Lourdes Gurriel Jr. misplayed the ball in left, attempting to throw out Swanson at home. Suárez, recognizing that Swanson was going to beat the throw, cut it off and attempted to throw to second to nab Cody Bellinger. Instead, the ball went into the outfield, allowing Bellinger to advance to third. Bellinger scored two batters later on Michael Busch's single.

“Those are plays I’m used to making every day,” Suárez said. “It was a bad day for me and I don’t want to make excuses. I should have made those plays. I should’ve made a better throw to second base and made that ground ball for an out.”

Suárez, acquired in November from the Mariners, was brought in to be a heavy hitter in the heart of the D-backs’ order, but he was also seen as a reliable glove at the hot corner, something Arizona was in dire need of last season.

He's generally been a plus defender at third in his career, although he was at -10 Outs Above Average (OAA) in just 34 games at shortstop in 2021. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Suárez was tied for 27th in OAA among 39 qualifying third basemen. Last year, he was tied for third out of 35 players.

Suárez ranked in the 97th percentile in Outs Above Average with 11 in 2023. That's gone down to the 20th percentile so far in 2024 (-1 OAA), although it's a small sample size.

The D-backs got +3 OAA from their third basemen in 2023, which was tied for 10th in MLB. With Suárez, they're tied for 17th this season.

So, what’s D-backs manager Torey Lovullo’s level of concern for Suárez’s defense?

“That’s minimal for me,” said Lovullo, a former infielder. “I just think a little bit of recognition, I’m sure he’s going to listen to what I said about playing through that ball that way and he can probably picture that, and center it in his mind."

A loss like Wednesday's may not set off alarms considering we’re only four weeks into the season, but it’s important to remember that the D-backs clinched a playoff spot in Game 161 last season. Little things like this add up if the D-backs want to make another deep run in the postseason, and Lovullo preaches that every day.

“That’s not D-back baseball,” Lovullo said. “I’m probably not even going to say a word about it. That’ll take care of itself. These guys are good enough to know when they do things below our standard.”

The defensive woes hurt more when you consider all the other good things the D-backs put together. Ketel Marte went 3-for-4, coming just a triple short of the cycle. He smacked a leadoff homer in the first inning 417-feet before adding an RBI single in the fifth.

Brandon Pfaadt threw the bounce-back performance he needed. After allowing a combined 11 runs over his last two starts, the 25-year-old gave up three runs (two earned), issued no walks and struck out six over seven innings. It was his deepest outing of the season and provided some much-needed rest for the D-backs' taxed bullpen, which came off back-to-back extra-inning games.

But there is still plenty of time left in the season. Suárez has been in the Majors for 10 years and is praised for his clubhouse presence in leadership. After the rocky game, Suárez vowed to never duplicate this performance.

“I’m very sad about that, and I feel bad and angry,” Suárez said “I promise you guys, that is not happening again.”