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March to trade deadline continues in Cubs’ loss to lowly DiamondbacksBrian Sandalowon July 24, 2021 at 11:15 pm

The countdown to the July 30 deadline is on. And one of the Cubs’ potential trade chips didn’t have his best day.

Andrew Chafin gave up three runs in the decisive seventh inning as the woeful Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 7-3 in front of 37,190 at Wrigley Field. After entering with the game tied at 2, Chafin walked Pavin Smith and Nick Ahmed before Daulton Varsho’s go-ahead single. Pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-run double made it 5-2.

Days like that have been extremely rare for Chafin. He entered Saturday with a 24 1/3 scoreless-inning streak, the longest active run in baseball, and is likely on the radar of contending teams seeking an experienced lefty for the stretch run and beyond.

If anything, the best news Saturday was that Kris Bryant’s hamstring seemed fine on his two hits, including a fifth-inning triple. Ryan Tepera, who replaced Chafin, retired all three batters he faced, including two strikeouts.

All three of Bryant, Chafin and Tepera could be on the move soon. That two of them had productive afternoons is what passes for positives these days for the Cubs, who fell to 48-51 in a game that was delayed 99 minutes due to inclement weather before the bottom of the ninth and finished in front of just a few hundred fans.

Cubs starter Alec Mills went five innings, giving up two runs and three hits while striking out two. Arizona’s Merrill Kelly, meanwhile, worked six and gave up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the third on Javier Baez’s bases-loaded double play. Mills, who led off with a double, scored after recording the first extra-base hit of his career.

Willson Contreras then doubled the Cubs’ lead in the fourth with his 15th homer, getting a Kelly pitch into the wind and subsequently the right-field bleachers.

Mills cruised through the first four innings, allowing just a first-inning Eduardo Escobar double. The fifth was different, and started with a David Peralta walk before Varsho tied the game with a home run to center.

Arizona’s Andrew Young added a two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Anthony Rizzo scored on a wild pitch in a bottom of the ninth that also saw Contreras ejected by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout.