Typical day for Cubs: Another injury, another victory

Every day seems to bring mixed outcomes for the Cubs.

Some good news Friday was having shortstop Dansby Swanson back in the lineup after missing most of two games with a glute cramp.

The bad news is the Cubs suffered yet another injury. This time second baseman Nico Hoerner left in the second inning with what the team called left-side neck tightness.

Good news: Daniel Palencia (lat strain) left for a rehab assignment with the Iowa Cubs on Friday. Bad news: He wasn't around when the Cubs needed him to protect a 1-run lead in the ninth inning.

But it all worked out for the home team. Reliever Jacob Webb walked the leadoff man in the ninth but completed a six-out save and the Cubs beat Arizona 6-5 at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs are 13-3 over their last 16 games, a sign it's better to be good than lucky, maybe?

“I mean, 162 games, things pop up, things happen,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We've got guys that are going to, for the most part, play every day, but things like today happen to Nico and our guys have done a great job with it.”

The Cubs survived a couple of defensive miscues. Matt Shaw, after playing flawless defense at three new positions, committed his first error of the season on a routine grounder at his natural position of second base. Alex Bregman misplayed an infield roller into a bunt double, and Arizona's Geraldo Perdomo followed with a 3-run homer off Ryan Rolison to trim what had been a 5-run lead to 6-5 in the sixth inning.

But the bullpen stepped up when needed, making a winner of Colin Rea. Phil Maton, in his second outing since coming off the injured list, cruised through the seventh inning, then Counsell's confidence in Webb paid off in the ninth.

“The lefties that were up that inning are a good matchup for Webby,” Counsell said. “We're just going to use matchups as our guide, essentially. Both Maton and Webb, two guys we need to get going, and today was a good start in that.”

Hoerner said everything was fine with his neck in the morning, but he started to feel it during warm-ups. He doubled and scored in his first at-bat, played two innings of defense, then had to leave.

“It's something a lot of people have probably dealt with,” Hoerner said. “My neck just kind of got stuck. It locked up. I wasn't in a good place on the field. Not an injury, but the kind of thing that didn't leave me in a place to be myself today.”

Hoerner wasn't sure if the sore neck had anything to do with getting beaned in the head in Wednesday's game at San Diego.

Injuries have been a common occurrence for the Cubs this season, especially on the pitching staff. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer talked before the game about assessing whether the team could do anything more to prevent injuries.

“We've had knees and backs and lats and elbows and shoulders,” Hoyer said. “It's not like we've had consistently one injury or another. Obviously in any situation, you're going to try to think about what you can do better.”

Counsell was confident if everything went well with Palencia's planned outing Friday night he'd be back with the big-league team. The Cubs closer has been out with a lat strain, while his replacement, Caleb Thielbar, is sidelined by a hamstring strain.

“If we find anything that led to this (spate of injuries), then certainly we'll address it,” Hoyer said. “In a weird way, I hope you find something. Otherwise, it's just randomness.

“In the meantime … you've got to win with what you have today.”

Michael Busch had a nice day at the plate, with a 2-run single in the first inning, a double and a deep fly to center that got knocked down by the wind. The Cubs got a bonus run in the first when the Diamondbacks let a pop-up drop between second base and center field.

So technically, it's not all bad luck for the Cubs these days. Not that it's mattered.