Highlights
- Rookie Ryan Waldschmidt hit a two-run, walk-off homer as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth inning Tuesday.
- The D-backs beat the Cubs 5-4 for their major-league-leading 40th comeback win of the 2026 season.
- Waldschmidt showed early promise at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI against Cleveland in spring training on March 1.
- Arizona remains in the wild-card chase with the regular season winding toward its final weeks.
Ryan Waldschmidt stepped in as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth inning Tuesday and delivered a two-run homer to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 5-4 win over the Cubs, their major-league-leading 40th comeback victory of the season.
The rookie's blast was the kind of moment Scottsdale spring-training watchers saw coming. On March 1 at Salt River Fields, Waldschmidt went 3-for-3 with two doubles exceeding 100 mph off the bat and two RBI as Arizona rallied from a 6-2 deficit to beat Cleveland 9-6, according to Sports Illustrated's spring-training coverage. That game also foreshadowed the team's identity: the D-backs recorded 15 hits and five walks while striking out only six times.
Tuesday's win was the 40th time this season Arizona erased a deficit to win, a total that leads all of MLB. The D-backs entered the week tied with the Cubs for the most comeback wins in the league after their 39th such victory over Cincinnati on Aug. 23, per Arizona Sports.
Waldschmidt's emergence as a late-game weapon gives the D-backs a credible threat off the bench as the wild-card race tightens. The next series will test whether the comeback formula holds against playoff-caliber competition.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- espn.com retrieved 26/08/2026 06:22
- si.com retrieved 26/08/2026 06:22
- arizonasports.com retrieved 26/08/2026 06:22
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 26/08/2026 06:22. Every claim traces to a source.
