Hoerner’s bases loaded in the 10th inning gives the Cubs a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks

“I don’t change my at-bats too much in the late opposition, but you know when you get on base, you’ve got the guys on our team that have had our best at-bats right behind you, and I have a lot of confidence in them,” Hoerner said. “(Michael) Busch has been so consistent for a long time, Seiya (Suzuki) has been too, so I have a lot of confidence in them and I felt like they had a great chance to try to win the game.”

Cubs All-Star pitcher Shota Imanaga struck out a career-high 10 batters and gave up two hits in seven innings, including a home run by Eugenio Suárez.

“He’s always calm, he’s always stable, he always creates a really good game,” Suzuki of Imanaga said through an interpreter. “We’ve had a few games where we couldn’t hit in those situations, but he threw great today.”

The Cubs won behind Brandon Pfaadt’s dominant day on the mound. The Arizona ace struck out seven and allowed just one hit.

Hoerner doubled down the first base line early in the ninth inning and scored on Suzuki’s single with one out.

Héctor Neris (8-2) earned the win for Chicago with a scoreless tenth inning, while Joe Mantiply (3-2) suffered the loss.

Imanaga opened the game by retiring all three batters he faced in the first inning and didn’t allow a hit until Randal Grichuk’s two-out single in the sixth. In the fifth, Imanaga picked up his eighth strikeout on a low splitter that fooled Arizona’s Jose Herrera, who hit so hard his bat flew down the third base line.

“In spring training, I talked to Dansby (Swanson), (Craig) Counsell, (Justin) Steele about how to deal with pressure,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “I didn’t really feel any pressure there and just talking about it with my teammates, with my coaches, I think that helped.”

Suárez broke the tie in the seventh inning by throwing a 2-1 pitch over the left-field wall.

Diamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo said LHP Jordan Montgomery felt “really good” after throwing a bullpen session. Montgomery is currently on the 15-day IL.

Cubs: Placed RHP Hayden Wesneski on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a right forearm strain. In a related move, Chicago recalled RHP Hunter Bigge from Triple-A Iowa.

Diamondbacks RHP Yilber Diaz (1-0, 1.50 ERA) is set to make his third career start Monday in Kansas City. The Cubs host the Brewers in a three-game series beginning Monday and plan to start RHP Javier Assad (4-3, 3.27).

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