CHICAGO -- His teammates have long since stopped being surprised by anything that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt does on the baseball field, but that doesn't mean they aren't impressed when he has a game like he did Thursday, when his three home runs powered the D-backs past the Cubs, 10-8.
It was the first career three-homer game for Goldschmidt, who matched his career high with six RBIs.
"What can you say about Paul Goldschmidt?" D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "He has one of those special days that you dream about, and the timing couldn't have been any better. It was a great moment for him and a great win for this team."
Goldschmidt's first homer came in the first inning, and the three-run shot gave the D-backs an early lead against Jose Quintana.

Goldschmidt's second homer, this one a two-run shot off Quintana in the fifth, helped extend the Arizona lead to 6-1.

Then after the Cubs had come back to tie it with a run in the eighth, Goldschmidt hit a one-out homer off closer Wade Davis in the ninth to give Arizona a 9-8 advantage.

Per Statcast™, Goldschmidt's homers traveled 412, 411 and 428 feet. It was just the second time this year that a player hit three homers of 400 or more feet in a game, with the Rockies' Nolan Arenado having accomplished it earlier this year in Coors Field.
The banner night raised Goldschmidt's slash line to .320/.440/.591, and given the other things he brings to the table -- Gold Glove-caliber defense and 15 stolen bases -- he's certainly in the conversation when it comes to the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

"He's got such a quick bat and is disciplined at the plate at the same time," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Goldschmidt. "He's also a very good first baseman, and he runs well. He can steal a bag if you're not paying attention. He's pretty much a complete player."

For Goldschmidt, though, all that is secondary to the fact that the D-backs won, and with the victory, they maintained a half-game lead over the Rockies, who beat the Mets on Thursday, for the top NL Wild Card spot.
"It's kind of nice to be rewarded with that win," Goldschmidt said. "We've been playing hard and haven't got the results at times, especially lately."

While the D-backs have hit a lull since just before the All-Star break, taking two of three from the first-place Cubs, especially after losing the first one by a 16-4 margin, showed they may be rebounding.

"It was nice to get the series win," Goldschmidt said. "Every win counts. We're doing well in the standings, but there are a lot of teams coming after us, so we've got to keep playing well. We know how good [the Cubs] are. It's a good challenge, I would say, more than anything."
And one the D-backs showed they were up for.