Tucker hits 2-run HR, Cubs score 6 in 8th after giving up 10 in top half to beat Diamondbacks 13-11

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.

The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.

“That's kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There's a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”

There haven't been many games like this, though.

The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. The others are Cleveland at Kansas City in the first inning on Aug. 23, 2006; Philadelphia against Pittsburgh in the first on June 8, 1989; the New York Yankees against the Philadelphia Athletics in the third on June 3, 1933; the Cubs against Cincinnati in the ninth on Sept. 26, 1912; the New York Giants at Boston Braves in the ninth on June 20, 1912; and the the Philadelphia Athletics against the Yankees in the ninth on May 3, 1912.

Giving up 10 or more runs and scoring six or more in the same inning is an even more rare accomplishment. The only other teams to do that in the past 125 years are Detroit at Texas on May 8, 2004; Cleveland against the Yankees on Aug. 3, 1986; Boston against Cleveland on April 10, 1977; and the Giants at Boston on June 20, 1912.

The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.

“You've seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today's a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”

The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.

Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.

Eugenio Suárez cut it to 7-5 with a grand slam against Porter Hodge, Geraldo Perdomo singled in a run, and Randal Grichuk put Arizona on top by one with a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer, making it 11-7.

The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs' prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.

“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don't want to ... give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don't want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”

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Chicago Cubs' Justin Turner (3), right, high-fives designated hitter Seiya Suzuki (27) after Suzuki hit a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly (15) runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson (7) and Ian Happ, right, celebrate after their win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a baseball game Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

CORRECTS TO CARSON KELLY NOT KYLE TUCKER - Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly hits a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

CORRECTS TO CARSON KELLY NOT KYLE TUCKER - Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Kyle Tucker (30) hits a single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Delegations from Ukraine and Russia traveled to Turkey Thursday for peace talks, but while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stayed away, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the efforts to end the war.

Zelenskyy said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely “decorative.” Speaking at the airport in the Turkish capital, Ankara, he said the next steps for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian team that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks in Istanbul.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkey to talk about ending the more than three-year war. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey and wait for Putin. But Putin never committed to taking part in the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show in Turkey. Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off Putin’s apparent decision not to attend.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha, Qatar on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Also in the Ukrainian delegation were Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said.

“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. "The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”

But Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.

Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but are expected to be clarified after Zelenskyy and Erdogan meet.

Russia said the talks have been postponed until the afternoon “at the initiative of the Turkish side”

Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus.

Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.

Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.

The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.

Russia's delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky.

Putin's proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.

Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn't surprised that Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar

The U.S. and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night. Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.

Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. "So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.

On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn't comply.

“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future," Rubio said Thursday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.

“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia," Valtonen said.

Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)