Cubs lose 6-1 to Diamondbacks; Anthony Rizzo won't be called up this weekend

The Cubs lost 6-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in the first game of the three-game road trip.  Jeff Samardzija started for the Cubs and allowed five runs on seven hits and walked two and struck out six batters over five innings pitched.

Jeff Samardzija started for the Cubs against the Diamondbacks on Friday (photo from cubs.com)

One last minute change to tonight's game was that lefty Joe Saunders was scheduled to start for the Dbacks, but was scratched at the last minute because he couldn't get loose in the bullpen before the game, so right hander Josh Collmenter was called on to start at the last minute.  Cubs manager Dale Sveum had gone with his usual lineup against left handed pitchers, leaving Bryan LaHair and David DeJesus on the bench, but it was unfortunate when the Dbacks switched to a righty just before game time.

Geovany Soto's solo home run in the fourth inning gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead and was the team's only offense in tonight's game.  Jason Kubel countered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to give the Dbacks a 2-1 lead and they never looked back as they tacked on 4 more runs during the game.

In other Cubs news, Sveum said that Randy Wells will remain in the starting rotation in Ryan Dempster's spot and is scheduled to start in Tuesday's game against the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.  "We'll stick with Wells for right now," Sveum said today.  "Something could change, but right now Wells will pitch on Tuesday."  In 24.2 innings pitched against the Mets, Wells has a record of 0-1 and an ERA of 2.92 with 14 strikeouts.

Sveum did confirm that the Cubs' top prospect Anthony Rizzo won’t be called up during their roadtrip in Arizona.  “I don’t know if there’s a date on it,” Sveum said. “It’s obvious he’s coming soon but we don’t have a date yet.”  Rizzo is batting .350 with 59 RBIs in 66 games with the Iowa Cubs this season and leads the Pacific Coast League with 23 homers.

Tomorrow the Cubs and Dbacks will play game two at 9:10pm CT.  Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and is looking for his fifth win of the season.