• Jake Lamb on D-Backs' bounce-back win over Cubs

    Jake Lamb on D-Backs’ bounce-back win over Cubs

  • Torey Lovullo on Godley's performance, Lamb's clutch hits

    Torey Lovullo on Godley’s performance, Lamb’s clutch hits

  • Torey Lovullo on miscues, Descalso's pitching in 16-4 loss to Cubs

    Torey Lovullo on miscues, Descalso’s pitching in 16-4 loss to Cubs

  • Patrick Corbin on rough outing vs. Cubs

    Patrick Corbin on rough outing vs. Cubs

  • Shot Clock: Who's at shortstop for D-Backs?

    Shot Clock: Who’s at shortstop for D-Backs?

  • Torey Lovullo on loss to Cardinals, injury to Owings

    Torey Lovullo on loss to Cardinals, injury to Owings

  • Taijuan Walker on his mistakes vs. Cardinals

    Taijuan Walker on his mistakes vs. Cardinals

  • Robbie Ray talks about the line drive that hit him

    Robbie Ray talks about the line drive that hit him

  • D-Backs' Zack Greinke on outing vs. Cardinals

    D-Backs’ Zack Greinke on outing vs. Cardinals

  • Torey Lovullo on D-Backs' 7-1 win over Cardinals

    Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ 7-1 win over Cardinals

  • D-Backs manager Tony Lovullo on Robbie Ray's condition

    D-Backs manager Tony Lovullo on Robbie Ray’s condition

  • Daniel Descalso on liner that hit Robbie Ray

    Daniel Descalso on liner that hit Robbie Ray

  • Shot Clock: Focus key for J.D. Martinez

    Shot Clock: Focus key for J.D. Martinez

  • Torey Lovullo on Martinez's grand slam, Godley's outing

    Torey Lovullo on Martinez’s grand slam, Godley’s outing

  • J.D. Martinez on strong performance in win

    J.D. Martinez on strong performance in win

  • Ketel Marte on his inside-the-park home run

    Ketel Marte on his inside-the-park home run

  • Lovullo talks about the D-Backs' 10-3 win over Atlanta

    Lovullo talks about the D-Backs’ 10-3 win over Atlanta

  • Diamondbacks fall 8-3 to Braves

    Diamondbacks fall 8-3 to Braves

  • J.D. Martinez on playing in the NL, seeing new pitching

    J.D. Martinez on playing in the NL, seeing new pitching

  • Lovullo raves about Greinke's outing vs. Braves

    Lovullo raves about Greinke’s outing vs. Braves

  • Zack Greinke discusses outing vs. Braves

    Zack Greinke discusses outing vs. Braves

  • Torey Lovullo and Robbie Ray discuss Diamondbacks' loss to Nationals

    Torey Lovullo and Robbie Ray discuss Diamondbacks’ loss to Nationals

  • Anthony Banda talks about his MLB debut

    Anthony Banda talks about his MLB debut

  • Lovullo reacts to the D-Backs' loss to the Nationals

    Lovullo reacts to the D-Backs’ loss to the Nationals

  • Diamondbacks edge Nationals in walk-off win

    Diamondbacks edge Nationals in walk-off win

  • Diamondbacks introduce J.D. Martinez at Chase Field

    Diamondbacks introduce J.D. Martinez at Chase Field

  • Torey Lovullo on Corbin's outing, series victory vs. Reds

    Torey Lovullo on Corbin’s outing, series victory vs. Reds

  • Patrick Corbin on his strong start vs. Reds

    Patrick Corbin on his strong start vs. Reds

  • J.D. Martinez talks about getting hit by a pitch vs. Reds

    J.D. Martinez talks about getting hit by a pitch vs. Reds

  • Manager Torey Lovullo on loss to Reds, Martinez's injury

    Manager Torey Lovullo on loss to Reds, Martinez’s injury

  • Zack Greinke on his outing vs. Reds

    Zack Greinke on his outing vs. Reds

  • Shot Clock: D-Backs seize moment with trade

    Shot Clock: D-Backs seize moment with trade

  • Torey Lovullo on D-Backs' win over Reds, acquisition of J.D. Martinez

    Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ win over Reds, acquisition of J.D. Martinez

  • Shot Clock: Robbie Ray brings intensity to mound

    Shot Clock: Robbie Ray brings intensity to mound

  • Shot Clock: D-Backs fear Cubs; ASU's hot seat

    Shot Clock: D-Backs fear Cubs; ASU’s hot seat

  • Torey Lovullo after D-Backs' fifth straight loss

    Torey Lovullo after D-Backs’ fifth straight loss

CHICAGO – During the second half last season, a bad game would turn into a bad week, and Jake Lamb would try to make it all go away in one night. In retrospect, Lamb believes it was not the right way to deal with a rough stretch at the plate. Instead of finding his way out of a hole, he only dug himself deeper.

A year later, Lamb is again off to a slow start to the second half, and he stepped to the plate in the sixth inning on Wednesday night riding a 1-for-24 skid. But Lamb delivered a two-run double off Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta, then laced another run-scoring double two innings later, providing all the offense in the Diamondbacks’ 3-0 victory at Wrigley Field.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 3, Cubs 0

One night after being hammered 16-4 in what amounted to their worst loss of the year, the Diamondbacks played a crisp game, quieting one of baseball’s hottest teams and earning a victory at a time when wins have been hard to come by. Their pitching rebounded by allowing just five baserunners, retiring the final 19 batters of the game.

“When you get your butts kicked that bad, you start to think it’s worth three or four losses,” Lamb said. “But it’s just one game. We did a great job just kind of flushing it and focusing on today. It starts with our pitching.”

Zack Godley, a former Cubs prospect, threw six impressive innings, extending his scoreless streak to 13 innings on this road trip. This time, he shut down the team that drafted him then traded him as part of the Miguel Montero deal in December 2014.

“It looks like nobody is very comfortable against him,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “Every time he needs a big out he goes and executes and gets the job done.”

Andrew Chafin, Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney passed the baton from the seventh to the ninth, and with Zack Greinke on the mound in Thursday afternoon’s finale, the Diamondbacks put themselves in position to take a series from the defending World Series champs.

A year wiser, Lamb does not believe he has flipped a switch from cold to hot. For him, it’s less an overnight process than it is a slow battleship turn. But he believes he is getting there. And he’s not worrying about how long it takes.

“I can feel bad for the rest of the month and then kill it in September,” he said. “There’s so much time left. That’s how you’ve got to view it. Obviously, the numbers are out there, whether it’s a bad last 10 ABs, 20, a bad whatever. But there’s a lot of time left.

“If you’re giving up now, especially on a team that’s trying to make a playoff run, you’re not helping this team out at all. That’s the biggest thing I learned. It’s one game today. I felt good at the plate. We were able to get the win.”

Lamb had runners on second and third against Arrieta in the sixth when he turned on a 3-1 fastball on the inner third of the plate. He didn’t hit it particularly well, but he grounded it just inside the line and just past first baseman Anthony Rizzo, allowing David Peralta and A.J. Pollock to easily score the game’s first two runs.

“It wasn’t the best swing,” Lamb said, “but it got the job done.”

Peralta was on first again in the eighth when Lamb lined a hit into the corner, where left fielder Kyle Schwarber tried to cut it off with a slide. The ball kicked away, allowing Peralta to score to make it 3-0.

Even with the two hits, Lamb is hitting just .189 since the second half started on July 14. But in his estimation, he’s “on the way back.” He believes he has work to do with his pitch selection, but he likes his chances of finishing the season on a better note than last year, when he hit just .231 over his final 260 at-bats.

“When you’re feeling bad,” he said, “everyone knows you can’t get locked in in a matter of one cage session. It takes about a week. Realizing that, going forward, you just have to get a little bit better every single day and hopefully you can get to the point where you’re locked in for that half month, month, week, whatever it is. It’s just not pressing.”

NOTES: Robbie Ray returns to Phoenix for exam, doubtful for next start

BICKLEY: D-Backs learning that lawyers and playoff teams don’t mix

RELATED: David Hernandez happy to be back in Diamondbacks ‘family’

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

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Thursday’s game

Diamondbacks at Cubs

When: 11:20 a.m.

Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (13-4, 2.84) vs. Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (6-6, 3.88).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM (620), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Greinke was impressive once again last week in St. Louis, giving up just one run on four hits in seven innings. … In his past seven starts he has a 2.53 ERA with eight walks and 45 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. … Greinke is striking out 9.8 batters per nine innings, the second-best rate of his career. … He hasn’t faced the Cubs since his second start of the 2016 season, when he gave up four runs in six innings. … Quintana has made three starts with the Cubs since coming over in an All-Star break trade, and he has given up just five runs in 19 innings (2.37 ERA) with five walks and 25 strikeouts. … Quintana faced the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 24 and was hit hard, giving up eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. … Quintana is holding left-handed hitters to a .607 OPS, the seventh-best mark in the majors.

Coming up

Friday: At San Francisco, 7:15 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (1-4, 2.92).

Saturday: At San Francisco, 6:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (6-5, 3.55) vs. Giants RHP Matt Cain (3-9, 5.37).

Sunday: At San Francisco, 1:05 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (8-10, 4.77) vs. Giants RHP Jeff Samardzija (6-11, 4.77).