Christian Walker went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs and Ketel Marte also went deep as the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks kept their playoff push going with a 15-4 rout of the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
Arizona (83-74) opened a one-game lead on the Cubs (82-75) for the second of three National League wild-card spots. Chicago lost 7-6 to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
The Miami Marlins (81-75) are 1 1/2 games behind Arizona, with the Cincinnati Reds (81-77) sitting 2 1/2 games off the pace.
The Diamondbacks scored the last 14 runs of the game to stretch their winning streak against the White Sox to nine dating to 2014. Chicago (60-97) must win three of its five remaining games to avoid the franchise’s first 100-loss season since 2018.
Chicago grabbed a first-inning lead, as Eloy Jimenez launched a three-run home run to left center field following one-out singles from Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn.
The White Sox had Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies in trouble again later in the inning but were unable to deliver after a walk and an Elvis Andrus double put two men in scoring position with two outs.
Walker led off the top of the second with a homer against Chicago starter Jose Urena. Jimenez delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the second to give the White Sox a 4-1 edge.
The Diamondbacks scored twice in the third, and Walker gave Arizona a 7-4 lead with a bases-clearing triple to highlight a six-run fifth. He added a two-run shot in the sixth.
Marte, who had missed the previous two starts due to an illness, hit a solo home run in the eighth. He finished with two hits and three runs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 3-for-5 for Arizona, Geraldo Perdomo had two hits, three runs and two RBIs, and Alek Thomas had two hits and an RBI.
Davies yielded four runs and eight hits in three innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Ryne Nelson (8-8) earned the victory with 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Nelson allowed one hit with two walks while fanning four.
Urena (0-7) allowed seven runs, four earned, and four hits in four innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
Benintendi and Jimenez had two hits each for Chicago.
