Craig Counsell responds to Cubs-Diamondbacks NSFW drama in best way possible

If you woke up Tuesday morning and just took a quick look at the box score, Monday's series opener between the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks looks pretty clear-cut: a 7-0 Cubs win behind a dominant effort from Kevin Gausman, backed by a three-hit game from Michael Conforto.

But if you tuned in, you saw a little more, including a heated back-and-forth shouting match between the Cubs and Diamondbacks coaching staffs mid-game.

It appears as if the argument stemmed from the Diamondbacks believing Cubs third base coach Quinton Berry was relaying signs to hitters, namely when Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly threw a change-up. After the game, Craig Counsell chalked up the exchange as 'gamesmanship that goes on every day in the league'.

Surely, that won't help calm tempers in the Arizona clubhouse, especially with the team locked in a fight for their playoff life heading into September.

The bad news for Kelly is he throws his change-up more than any other pitch. In Monday's lopsided contest, Cubs hitters put up three runs against the veteran over five innings of work, quickly pushing his pitch count up - more than half of his 99 pitches were out of the strike zone. A key RBI triple from Pedro Ramirez came via the change-up, which certainly didn't help matters.

Cubs, Diamondbacks both major factors in a heated NL playoff picture

With just over a month left in the 2026 MLB season, the Cubs hold the first wild card spot in the National League, entering Tuesday with a three-game edge over a surging Philadelphia Phillies team that just ran off a nine-game win streak before losing Monday.

The third and final wild card spot currently belongs to the San Diego Padres, but there is a cluster of teams still in the hunt, including the Diamondbacks. Arizona is two games out of the playoff picture, followed by the Miami Marlins (4 GB) and St. Louis Cardinals (5 GB). This head-to-head series against the Cubs, as the team leading the wild card pack, is huge for the Dbacks - and no doubt ratcheted up emotions Monday night.

We'll see if there's any carryover in Tuesday night's game, when Clay Holmes squares off against Brandon Pfaadt in Phoenix. But it's safe to say the series got off to a heated start, potentially setting the stage for more fireworks before it's all said and done.

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