Arizona Diamondbacks vs Chicago Cubs — Mar 5, 2026 | AI Prediction & Stats
Arizona Diamondbacks
3-4
Finished
1
:
8
Chicago Cubs
3-3
Scoreboard
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Diamondbacks
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
|
Cubs
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 8 | 12 | 0 |
AI PREDICTIONNeural Network Forecast
AI| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Diamondbacks
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
|
Cubs
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Chicago rides the hot left arm of Justin Steele, whose heavy fastball/slider mix neutralizes Arizona’s left-handed power early. Steele works six solid innings, allowing just the two-run third that comes on a Ketel Marte double after a brief lapse in command. Brandon Pfaadt counters for the D-backs but struggles to finish hitters; a second-inning Nico Hoerner single followed by Seiya Suzuki’s RBI double opens the scoring, and a fourth-inning two-run blast from Christopher Morel puts the Cubs ahead for good.
The Cubs’ patient approach (third-highest walk rate in the league last season) pushes Pfaadt’s pitch count past 90 by the fifth, forcing Arizona’s middle relief—an area that ranked bottom-seven in WHIP—to shoulder innings. Chicago tacks on insurance in the seventh when Ian Happ turns around a hanging changeup from lefty reliever Joe Mantiply. Cody Bellinger adds a ninth-inning RBI single off Paul Sewald, capitalizing on Dansby Swanson’s leadoff walk.
Arizona’s recent skid (four losses in their last five) shows at the plate: they chase Steele’s slider off the zone and fail to advance runners against Mark Leiter Jr. and Julian Merryweather. A late eighth-inning rally off Adbert Alzolay is limited to one run when Pete Crow-Armstrong tracks down Corbin Carroll’s deep fly at the wall.
Defensively, the Cubs flash their improved infield efficiency—Swanson turns two double plays that blunt potential Diamondback rallies—while the visitors’ shaky corner defense gifts Chicago an extra 90 feet twice, leading directly to a pair of runs.
With depth in the pen and cleaner defense, the Cubs protect the 5-3 margin, reinforcing their status as early NL Central favorites and dropping Arizona further behind in a tightly packed NL West race.
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Season Comparison
Diamondbacks
STAT
Cubs
3-4
Record
3-3
0.429
Win %
0.500
27
Runs For
30
44
Runs Against
24
7
Games Played
6
LWWWL
Form
WLWLW
Head to Head
3
2
Mar 18
Cubs
8 - 16
Diamondbacks
Apr 20
Diamondbacks
3 - 2
Cubs
Apr 19
Diamondbacks
2 - 6
Cubs
Apr 18
Diamondbacks
11 - 13
Cubs
Mar 30
Cubs
6 - 10
Diamondbacks
Diamondbacks Recent
Apr 3
vs Braves
17-2
L
Apr 1
vs Tigers
0-1
W
Apr 1
vs Tigers
5-7
W
Mar 31
vs Tigers
6-9
W
Mar 29
@ Dodgers
2-3
L
Cubs Recent
Apr 1
vs Angels
2-6
W
Mar 31
vs Angels
2-0
L
Mar 30
vs Angels
2-7
W
Mar 29
vs Nationals
6-3
L
Mar 28
vs Nationals
2-10
W
Lineups
AWAY ROSTER
Carlos Santana
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H1
AB16
Ildemaro Vargas
AVG-
HR1
RBI1
OBP-
H3
AB7
Ketel Marte
AVG-
HR1
RBI2
OBP-
H4
AB22
Tim Tawa
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H2
AB6
Nolan Arenado
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H3
AB19
Gabriel Moreno
AVG-
HR0
RBI2
OBP-
H5
AB19
James McCann
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H1
AB5
Alek Thomas
AVG-
HR0
RBI4
OBP-
H3
AB19
Jorge Barrosa
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H1
AB3
Andrew Hoffmann
ERA0.00
W-L1-0
SO3
Brandon Pfaadt
ERA7.50
W-L0-0
SO3
Eduardo Rodriguez
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO5
Gus Varland
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO1
Joe Ross
ERA32.39
W-L0-0
SO1
Jonathan Loáisiga
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO2
Juan Morillo
ERA6.00
W-L0-1
SO2
Kevin Ginkel
ERA4.50
W-L0-1
SO1
Michael Soroka
ERA0.00
W-L1-0
SO10
Paul Sewald
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO4
Ryan Thompson
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO1
Ryne Nelson
ERA7.71
W-L0-0
SO4
Taylor Clarke
ERA15.43
W-L0-0
SO3
Zac Gallen
ERA3.60
W-L1-1
SO4
Corbin Carroll
AVG-
HR2
RBI8
OBP-
H7
AB21
Geraldo Perdomo
AVG-
HR1
RBI2
OBP-
H5
AB23
Jordan Lawlar
AVG-
HR0
RBI1
OBP-
H5
AB16
HOME ROSTER
Michael Busch
AVG-
HR0
RBI1
OBP-
H6
AB21
Nico Hoerner
AVG-
HR0
RBI3
OBP-
H7
AB22
Scott Kingery
AVG-
HR-
RBI-
OBP-
H-
AB-
Alex Bregman
AVG-
HR2
RBI3
OBP-
H5
AB24
Matt Shaw
AVG-
HR0
RBI3
OBP-
H4
AB15
Carson Kelly
AVG-
HR0
RBI3
OBP-
H3
AB16
Miguel Amaya
AVG-
HR1
RBI2
OBP-
H3
AB8
Moisés Ballesteros
AVG-
HR0
RBI2
OBP-
H3
AB18
Pete Crow-Armstrong
AVG-
HR0
RBI3
OBP-
H6
AB23
Dylan Carlson
AVG-
HR-
RBI-
OBP-
H-
AB-
Ian Happ
AVG-
HR3
RBI5
OBP-
H5
AB24
Michael Conforto
AVG-
HR0
RBI0
OBP-
H0
AB6
Ben Brown
ERA2.70
W-L0-0
SO8
Cade Horton
ERA2.84
W-L1-0
SO4
Caleb Thielbar
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO3
Colin Rea
ERA6.00
W-L0-0
SO4
Daniel Palencia
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO2
Edward Cabrera
ERA0.00
W-L1-0
SO5
Hoby Milner
ERA7.72
W-L0-0
SO0
Hunter Harvey
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO3
Jacob Webb
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO2
Jameson Taillon
ERA0.00
W-L0-0
SO3
Matthew Boyd
ERA6.75
W-L1-1
SO17
Phil Maton
ERA7.72
W-L0-1
SO3
Shota Imanaga
ERA7.20
W-L0-1
SO7
Dansby Swanson
AVG-
HR0
RBI3
OBP-
H2
AB17
