PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks hitters, at least a few of them, partially cracked the code of Jake Arrieta, but it wasn't nearly enough as the season-opening homestand came to a close in the same disappointing fashion it started.
The D-backs scored just three runs Sunday. But it was a bounty against the stingy Arrieta. Shelby Miller, though, gave up two more home runs and the Cubs piled on against the D-backs bullpen in a 7-3 win at Chase Field.
"I have to figure out a way to keep the ball in the ballpark here," Miller said. "It's definitely a hitter's park. There's no doubt about that. Everyone knows that. That's just an excuse. You have to make pitches regardless. They're putting good swings on it and hitting home runs. That's killing me right now."
Miller allowed five home runs in his first two starts and D-backs pitches gave up 13 home runs in going 2-5 on the homestand.
On Sunday, Arrieta got Miller for a two-run homer on a full-court inside fastball in the second inning. Then after the D-backs climbed back in it, Jorge Soler hit a tower homer into the left-field seats to regain the lead for the Cubs.
"It's been rough," Miller, who gave up four runs in five innings, said after the starting rotation's collective ERA climbed to 7.75.
The D-backs also used the long ball to get back in the game. Paul Goldschmidt took Arrieta deep to lead off the fourth and Socrates Brito's first career home run tied the game at 3 in the fourth.
Arrieta had given up just two home runs in his past 22 starts. After the second inning he actually had hit more home runs (three) in that span than he's allowed. Goldschmidt's homer also snapped Arrieta's regular-season scoreless streak of 32 innings.
But the D-backs had just two base runners the rest of the game.
"We did a great job battling back to get to 3-3 with the home runs. But he's a winner," D-backs manager Chip Hale said of Arrieta. "That's why he's out there; he's their ace."
— Matt Buschmann (@Busch26) April 11, 2016
Thirty-two-year-old rookie Matt Buschmann pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his Major League debut.
"I don't think I could have ever prepared myself for that. It exceeded everything," Buschmann said. "Because there's so many thought that can go through your head, I was through about throwing strikes and hitting the mitt and dealing with everything else later."
