CHICAGO -- Pitcher Jason Hammel of the Chicago Cubs doesn't want to be an easy out when he's at the plate. He wants to be the ninth hitter in a formidable lineup.

Hammel showed his athletic ability when he hit a two-run single in the fourth inning to give the Cubs the lead for good in their 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on a rainy Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Edwin Escobar of the D-backs intentionally walked David Ross to load the bases and bring up Hammel, who hit a grounder that bounced high off second base and scored two runs for a 4-2 lead.

"Not that I can think like a hitter, but I try to," Hammel said. "First pitch slider that missed in, bases loaded, don't want to go 2-and-0 on a pitcher, so I figured he was coming heater, and I just wanted to be on time."

Hammel (7-1) showed no ill effects from cramping in his right hamstring that limited him to two innings in his last start Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed two runs and one hit in seven innings.

The game was played without any delays despite light rain.

"He pitched really well under awkward circumstances with weather, gives up an early home run, settles in," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

The Cubs improved to 8-1 during their homestand and own the best record in baseball at 39-15.

Escobar (0-2) allowed four runs and five hits in 3 2-3 innings in his second start since Arizona claimed him on waivers from Boston on April 29.

Escobar was facing the Cubs for the first time. The D-backs have lost five of six.

Jake Lamb hit his 10th home run, a two-run shot to give Arizona the lead in the first, after Hammel issued a two-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt.

"The first time through the lineup you're going to see some heaters and he likes to go with the slider the second, third time through, so I was aggressive," Lamb said.

Dexter Fowler cut the D-backs lead in half with his seventh home run in the bottom of the inning. It was his third leadoff homer of the season and 17th of his career.

After Anthony Rizzo got on base on a popup that fell into short left-center in the fourth, Jorge Soler tied the game with an RBI double that landed in the ivy before Hammel's big hit.

"We're playing hard and just have to clean up the defense a little bit," Arizona manager Chip Hale said about Rizzo's hit that dropped in. "We’re giving them too many outs."

The Cubs are taking advantage of those breaks.

"Our guys come ready to play every day," Maddon said. "The residue of that is that things like that occur," Maddon said.

Hammel's seven RBIs this season rank second behind the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright among pitchers.

"We always go into the cage and have fun with it, but we don't want to be an out, we want to be a ninth hitter," Hammel said. "We try to pretend that we're hitters so we can be hitters. If it happens, then we feel like we're hitters."

Pedro Strop replaced Hammel and allowed a home run to Yasmany Tomas in the eighth to cut the lead. Strop gave up a pair of two-out singles before exiting for Trevor Cahill, who walked Goldschmidt to load the bases.

"I just didn't think he was on his game today," Maddon said of Strop.

Travis Wood got Rickie Weeks Jr. to line out to end the inning, and Hector Rondon earned his 10th save in as many chances after Rizzo hit his 13th home run in the bottom of the eighth.

"Rickie is a good matchup against a lefty," Hale said about pinch hitting for Lamb. "Jake hasn't hit all the lefties that well. I've told him over and over, as his career goes on, he won't be pinch hit for. He'll handle lefties.

"It was one of the better at-bats we've had all year. That was exciting, packed house, battled to 3-2, hit a bullet and of course, (second baseman Ben) Zobrist was right there."

NOTES: Despite having the largest run differential in the majors, manager Joe Maddon said the Cubs have yet to hit to their potential. Several starters, including OF Jason Heyward (.228), 1B Rizzo (.246), OF Soler (.213) and SS Addison Russell (.241), had low averages entering Saturday. ... The Cubs are planning to wear NBA-style tracksuits for their trip to Philadelphia on Monday. The warmup suits have players' nicknames on the back. The team also wore zany suits for a previous trip to Pittsburgh. ... D-backs starters had given up one run in their last 13 innings before Saturday. ... RHP Archie Bradley struck out 10 against the Cubs on Friday and RHP Zach Greinke struck out 11 against Houston on Wednesday to become the first D-backs starters to strike out at least 10 in back-to-back outings since Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb and Curt Schilling did so in 2003.