CHICAGO – Rich Hill pitched eight solid innings for his first major league win and Aramis Ramirez hit one of Chicago’s four homers to lead the Cubs to a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
Matt Murton, Michael Barrett and Jacque Jones also connected for Chicago, which has won seven of its last nine games.
Making his 10th career start, Hill (1-4) labored in 97-degree heat and allowed three runs and six hits. He had six strikeouts and walked one. He retired eight in a row between the second and fourth.
Hill went 7-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 15 starts this season for Triple-A Iowa, but before Tuesday’s game he was 0-6 with a 9.32 ERA in 15 career games in the majors.
Eric Byrnes hit his 16th homer off Hill in the eighth inning for Arizona.
Cesar Izturis, playing his first game for the Cubs, doubled in his first at-bat in the first inning and then scored on Ramirez’s two-run homer off Arizona starter Claudio Vargas (8-8). It was Ramirez’s second homer in two days and his 25th of the season.
Izturis was traded to the Cubs for four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux on Monday.
Juan Pierre’s two-run double in the second gave the Cubs a 4-0 lead.
Barrett hit the first pitch of the third inning into the first row of bleachers in left. It was his 13th of the season. With two outs, John Mabry doubled off the wall in right-center and Murton followed with a two-run homer, making it 7-0.
The umpires didn’t initially rule it a home run, but Cubs manager Dusty Baker argued and they reversed the call after a short meeting. Arizona manager Bob Melvin argued the call briefly to no avail.
Diamondbacks reliever Brandon Medders gave up a double to Barrett in the fifth, and Jones drove Barrett in with his 17th homer.
Vargas was tagged for seven runs in four innings. He gave up three homers.
Pinch-hitter Andy Green hit a two-run double in the fifth for Arizona.
Notes: Before the game, the Cubs recalled RHP Juan Mateo from Double-A West Tenn. Mateo took INF Todd Walker’s spot on the roster. Walker was traded to San Diego on Monday for a minor league prospect. Mateo, a starter for West Tenn, was available out of the bullpen. … Arizona OF Luis Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
AP-ES-08-01-06 2235EDT
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