Rodriguez, Lawlar Blank Cubs 2-0

Eduardo Rodriguez struck out nine in seven innings and Jordan Lawlar homered as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Wednesday at Chase Field. The Associated Press recap, carried by ESPN, said Rodriguez (14-4) allowed two hits and won his fourth straight start while outpitching Matthew Boyd (8-3).

Arizona did not score until the sixth. Lawlar led off that inning with a solo home run to right, 364 feet, for the only run against Boyd. The Diamondbacks added a second run in the eighth when James McCann scored and Dustin Waldschmidt's ball to right turned into a sacrifice double play, with Lawlar thrown out at first. Relievers Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo finished the two-hitter. Morillo earned his second save with a perfect ninth.

How did Eduardo Rodriguez beat the Cubs?

Rodriguez walked three and did not allow an earned run. StatMuse listed the Arizona staff with 10 strikeouts and four walks across nine innings. CBS Sports had Rodriguez at a 2.50 ERA after the start. He did not allow a hit until Tyrone Taylor's bloop single to lead off the fifth, the AP wrote. Boyd lasted six innings, allowed three hits, two walks, one run, and five strikeouts.

Chicago's best chance came in the sixth. Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled and moved to third with one out. Crow-Armstrong broke down the line as if stealing home. Rodriguez threw a quick pitch, the umpires huddled, and they did not call a balk. Crow-Armstrong was stranded. The Cubsinsider recap said the missed balk was the difference on a night Boyd allowed one run in six innings.

What the Diamondbacks shutout means

Arizona improved to 71-63. Chicago fell to 76-58 and was shut out on two hits. The Cubs wasted another strong start on a 2-4 trip, according to the Cubsinsider recap of the series finale. Rodriguez had thrown 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Cincinnati in his previous start, so Wednesday extended a scoreless stretch that now covers two turns.

It was a different kind of Wednesday shutout from Philadelphia's 6-0 win in Seattle, covered in the Kyle Schwarber 40th-homer recap, and from Tampa Bay's earlier 3-0 result in Detroit, covered in the Peralta Rays-Tigers recap. Arizona needed one swing from Lawlar and seven quiet innings from Rodriguez. That is a pitching story first.

RotoWire confirmed Lawlar went 2-for-3 with the solo homer and that Morillo did not strike out a batter in the save. Those are the sourced lines. No extra Arizona runs were invented, and no Cubs rally was written in after the ninth.

Diamondbacks Cubs shutout FAQ

What was the Cubs vs Diamondbacks final score? Arizona won 2-0 on Wednesday at Chase Field.

How many strikeouts did Eduardo Rodriguez have? He struck out nine over seven innings and allowed two hits, per the AP and StatMuse.

Who hit the home run for Arizona? Jordan Lawlar led off the sixth with a solo shot to right. McCann scored the second run in the eighth.