Both clubs arrived with real playoff stakes attached — Chicago holding a National League Wild Card spot, Arizona scrapping to close the gap — which made the finale more than just a getaway-day formality.
Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks
Wed Aug 2612:40 PM MST
By JR·1 min read
TLDR: A game that opened as a pitching-duel guessing exercise closed as an actual pitching duel — Eduardo Rodriguez outlasted Matthew Boyd, and Arizona took the rubber match 2-0.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
 ARI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Chicago Cubs
- Best record in this series entering the day, 76-57
- Won the series opener 7-0
- Boyd owns an 8-2 record this season
- Rotation and bullpen decimated by IL (Steele, Horton, Cabrera, more)
- Boyd's ERA has ballooned to 4.15 in recent outings
- Lost the prior game on a walk-off homer
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Rodriguez an All-Star with a 2.52 ERA this season
- Walk-off comeback win the night before
- Home success at Chase Field
- Still jockeying for position in a crowded NL Wild Card field
- Rotation beyond Rodriguez thinned by injuries (Gallen, Burnes, Nelson)
- Bullpen worked extra innings closing out the prior night's game
Matthew Boyd (8-2, 3.94 ERA) drew Eduardo Rodriguez (13-4, 2.52 ERA) for the getaway-day finale, a matinee start at 12:40 PM MT that pitted two of the better arms in this series against each other with the rubber game on the line.
Matthew Boyd
(8-4)·4.03 ERA
Aug 21 @ Mariners
ND
6.0IP
4ER
3K
2BB
86P
08/26 Lineup
Eduardo Rodriguez
(15-5)·2.55 ERA
Aug 21 vs Reds
W
5.2IP
0ER
4K
2BB
99P
08/26 Lineup
Rodriguez came in as an All-Star this season, and Arizona's lineup got a jolt the night before when Ryan Waldschmidt's walk-off two-run homer capped the majors-leading 40th comeback win of the D-backs' season. Chicago, meanwhile, has been trying to piece together a rotation around Boyd all month — Justin Steele, Cade Horton and Edward Cabrera are all out, among others, leaving less margin for a shaky Boyd start than the Cubs would like.