The baseball Diamondbacks have been as welcoming to the Cubs this weekend as real diamondbacks, which is to say not very. The Cubs were snake-bitten again last night on their way to a 10-5 loss. At least they scored 5 runs, right?

The Cubs actually scored more runs Saturday than they had in their previous three games combined (three), but, as Sveum said, “We left a few people out there, too, in key spots.”

Despite 14 hits, the Cubs went 2-for-11 with men in scoring position, making them 3-for-19 through the first two games of the series.

“We’ve got to get better with men in scoring position. That’s the bottom line,” Sveum said. “Our core guys have to start doing something in the middle of that order.”

David DeJesus and Starlin Castro both had four hits but neither scored a run. Paul Maholm did hit a two-run home run, but also gave up six earned runs in 3.2 innings.

“You watched it,” he said. “I didn’t make pitches. I made a pitch that I thought I was getting out of it. Didn’t make any pitches after it.”

Maholm was referring to a throwing error by third baseman Luis Valbuena that preceded four straight hits, including a two-run triple by Paul Goldschmidt.

“You make a pitch you think you’re getting out of it, and all hell broke loose,” he said.

The Cubs are 1/2 game ahead of the Padres for the first pick in the draft, though.

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