{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Major League Baseball
Chi. Cubs 14, Arizona 5
When: 2:20 PM ET, Friday, September 4, 2015
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 74°
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Bill Welke, 2B - John Hirschbeck, 3B - John Tumpane
Attendance: 36132

CHICAGO -- Jon Lester said he enjoyed watching teammates pile up the most runs in any game at Wrigley Field since 2013, but conceded he had some struggles as the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 14-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

"Offensively our guys did a heck of a job today, it's always fun to sit back and watch," said the left-handed Lester, who worked five innings for his first win since Aug. 18 and improved to 9-10. "(It was a) grind, a lot of foul balls, a lot of long counts.

"But at the end of the day a W is a W, you've got to look at it that way."

Cubs second baseman Addison Russell went 2-for-3 with his first career multi-homer game while first baseman Anthony Rizzo added a grand slam in an eight-run fifth inning to a 14-run outburst, the most since a 14-6 win over Houston on June 23, 2013.

The 14 runs were also the most surrendered by the Diamondbacks this season.

"They were just waiting for good pitches and they did a good job of making our guys throw the ball over the middle of the plate," said Arizona manager Chip Hale. "It was pretty much center-cut pitches they were hitting."

Both of Russell's home runs came off Diamondbacks right-handed starter Zack Godley, who was hammered early and gone after 4 2/3 innings in the opener of a three-game Wrigley Field series.

Rizzo was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and right fielder Javier Baez went 3-for-4, including his first homer of the season.

Godley (4-1) struggled with control from the outset as the Cubs sent eight batters to the plate in the first to open a 3-0 lead.

He gave up a single and walked four Cubs; two scored on bases on balls with just one out. Chicago made it 3-0 as catcher David Ross' sacrifice to right scored Rizzo.

Godley finally got out of the inning when Lester grounded to second.

Russell led off the second with his 11th home run of the season to give Chicago a 4-0 lead.

"I got some good sleep last night and saw the ball great," Russell said. "It's really fun, hitting's contagious and everyone wants to get in. ... It's a great atmosphere and the club feeds off that."

Chicago (76-57) won its second in three games after a recent 1-5 slump. Arizona (65-70) has now lost nine of its last 12.

Diamondbacks second baseman Chris Owings' two-out RBI double in the fourth broke the shutout, scoring catcher Welington Castillo from second.

Russell launched his second homer of the day to left in the fourth inning, scoring Lester for a 6-1 lead. Godley then faced his final batter, walking left fielder Chris Coghlan before he was pulled for right-handed reliever Enrique Burgos.

Godley allowed six runs on four hits, walked six and struck out three.

"(Godley) was probably just a little over-amped," said Hale. "He was pitching against his old team and he was trying obviously to do a little too much."

Arizona scratched out another run in the fifth as right fielder Ender Inciarte reached on a bunt, stole second and third and came home on third baseman Phil Gosselin's double to left.

The Cubs replied with eight fifth-inning runs, seven credited to right-handed reliever A.J. Schugel and all with two outs. Right fielder Austin Jackson singled home Ross for a 7-1 lead and Schugel then walked Coghlan and bring home Lester to make it 8-2.

Rizzo then delivered a grand slam to right for a 12-2 lead.

Schugel walked Bryant and was replaced by right-handed reliever Silvino Bracho, who promptly gave up a two-run homer to Baez to make it 14-2.

Lester didn't return after the lengthy fifth, replaced by right-hander Justin Grimm. Lester worked five innings and had already thrown 91 pitches. He allowed two runs on five hits, struck out three and walked a pair.

Diamondbacks first baseman Jake Lamb's two-run homer to right in the seventh made it 14-4. Owings scored on shortstop Nick Ahmed's eighth-inning triple, cutting the lead to 14-5.

NOTES: The Diamondbacks' low Class A affiliate -- the Kane County Cougars -- are just 45 miles west of Chicago and have clinched a Midwest League playoff berth with their Western Division-leading 45-21 second-half record. ... Diamondbacks C Welington Castillo faced his old Cubs teammates for the first time at Wrigley Field. The Cubs traded Castillo -- their one-time starter -- to the Mariners in May and Seattle sent him to Arizona on June 3. ... RHP Zack Godley was recalled from Double-A Mobile for Friday's start. ... Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (3-10, 3.72 ERA) faces Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (17-6, 2.11) in Saturday's middle game of the series. ... Cubs rookie C/LF Kyle Schwarber is out for the next three to five days as he deals with what is described as a mild rib cage strain. ... Arrieta was a unanimous pick for NL Pitcher of the Month announced Thursday. He went 6-0 with a 0.43 ERA and pitched first career no-hitter on Aug. 30 against the Dodgers. ... Cubs 3B Kris Bryant was voted NL Rookie of the Month for August after hitting .330 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 28 games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Arizona   Chi. Cubs
Zack Godley Player Jon Lester
Loss W/L Win
3.2 IP 5.0
3 Strikeouts 3
4 Hits 5
14.73 ERA 3.60
Hitting
Arizona   Chi. Cubs
Jake Lamb Player Javier Baez
2 Hits 3
2 RBI 3
1 HR 1
5 TB 6
1.000 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Arizona 10 1 18 .263 22 6 5 4 2 1
Chi. Cubs 12 4 25 .343 11 9 14 8 0 1