PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks' bullpen appeared to be one of the strengths of the team entering the season. It still may be; the components seem to be present. The issue is consistency and Saturday was one of those inconsistent days.
The Chicago Cubs scored five runs in the last two innings, depriving Rubby De La Rosa of his fifth victory of the season and keeping the Diamondbacks from reaching .500 for the first time in a month in a 9-6 victory at Chase Field.
The two-day skirmish between D-backs rookie right-hander Enrique Burgos and Cubs blossoming star Anthony Rizzo typified the bullpen's yin/yang season.
Burgos got Rizzo to pop out on a slider to end a nine-pitch at-bat in the eighth inning of a tie game Friday, a game the D-backs won 5-4 in 13 innings. The bullpen gave up only two runs in the final eight innings.
One night later, Rizzo hit a slider into the pool area with two runners on to break a 6-6 tie in the ninth, lifting the ball just above straining right fielder Ender Inciarte, who climbed the lower half of the fence but could not reach the ball.
"It didn't move," Burgos said of the slider. "I already watched the video and saw the difference from last night to tonight. Last night he was quick, and tonight when I threw the slider he loaded pretty well. I felt pretty good out there. I think it was one mistake, one pitch. It wasn't like I was all over the place it was one pitch."
Dexter Fowler singled off Burgos with one out in the ninth before third baseman Yasmany Tomas committed his second error in two games, failing to move his feet on Kris Bryant's sharp one-hopper. Rizzo then smashed a 1-1 pitch, capping a six-RBI night and spoiling a D-backs comeback that included David Peralta's three-run double in the fifth inning and Tuffy Gosewisch's first homer of the season in the sixth for a 6-4 edge.
"Left-handers like the ball down," D-backs manager Chip Hale said of Rizzo. "Burgos, if he can get it down-down, it is a really good pitch."
Burgos got his first two major league saves in Miami on Monday and Tuesday, the first two games of what turned into a five-game winning streak that was broken Saturday, and with a 98 mph fastball and an 89 mph slider looks to be a piece that fits well.
With Addison Reed working on a new delivery, Burgos and Brad Ziegler appear to be the top candidates to close games these days, although David Hernandez could get into the mix when he returns, possibly on the road trip that starts Sunday in St. Louis and finishes with a stop in Milwaukee.
D-backs relievers have a 4.41 ERA this season, 12th in National League and 25th in the majors. Only Ziegler (0.90) has an ERA under four.
At times the setup men have had trouble passing the baton to the final reliever this season, and that was the case again Saturday, when the D-backs took a 6-4 lead into the eighth inning.
J.C. Ramirez, who has been solid since his promotion two weeks ago, pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and got the first two batters in the eighth before Starlin Castro singled to right field. The D-backs brought in left-hander Oliver Perez to face former teammate Miguel Montero, but Montero foiled the strategy when he accepted a slider in the right arm, the hit batsman putting the tying run on base.
Usually a situational specialist, Perez stayed in to face righty Jorge Soler because Daniel Hudson did not have adequate time to warm up. Hale blamed himself. Soler drove a double into right-center to drive in two and tie the game, once pitch after he started for first base after thinking he had walked on an inside pitch that was called a strike.
"The pitch to Soler, I was all over the place," Perez said. "I left on in his comfortable area and he hit it pretty good."
Perez was one of the best lefty relievers in the majors last season, when he had career-highs in holds (15) and appearances (68) while averaging 11.66 strikeouts per game, but he has not found that rhythm this year.
"It has been like good game, bad game," Perez said. "I have to be sure to get a better result. I'm a veteran, so I have to get better. I have to think positive and keep working."
David Peralta is making the most of limited time in a crowded outfield. With his three-run double, he has 21 RBI and 14 extra-base hits in 109 at-bats, the fewest at-bats among the four D-backs' outfielders. Only Paul Goldschmidt has more RBI, and only Goldschmidt and Mark Trumbo have more extra-base hits.
400 -- number of games Aaron Hill has played at second base for the D-backs, breaking a tie with Orlando Hudson for the franchise record at the position.
* Reed has drastically modified his delivery, eliminating a high leg kick in favor of a slight leg raise and a strong push off his back leg. The idea is to have more of a direct line to the plate, something he tried to do this spring without changing the leg kick. "To be honest with you, it felt like I was learning a new language at first," Reed said. "It felt really weird. I'm just getting in a lot of work on the side and everything is feeling good, so I just have to keep going with it and not get away from it." Reed gave up two runs Friday, one a looping single and the other on a line drive single.
* Hernandez appears closer to bringing his power arm back to the bullpen. He pitched a scoreless inning on a rehab assignment at Double-A Mobile on Friday, striking out two and walking one while throwing 21 pitches. He is scheduled to pitch again Monday. "I think will be evaluate after that," Hale said.
* Nick Ahmed singled to lead off the three-run fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to eight games. He is 13-for-31 (.419) during the streak, which began with a two-hit game against Washington on May 12. He has four multiple-hit games in that run.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon has good memories of Arizona right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the time the two were in Tampa Bay before they both left this offseason.
Hellickson was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2011, when Maddon guided the Rays to a 91-71 record and their third playoff appearance in four years. "He was a big part of what the Rays did," Maddon said. "He really helped the Rays become good." Hellickson gave up two runs in six innings in a no-decision at Miami in his last start on Tuesday, the second quality start in his eight starts this season.
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