Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 5

Fit to be tied: Cubs catcher Willson Contreras’ two-out, infield single in the top of the ninth drove home the go-ahead run from third. But a walk, single and sacrifice fly to open the bottom half against prospect James Pugliese left the Cubs with their fifth tie of the spring.

Monster Mash: On his first swing of the year, Cubs starter Jake Arrieta belted what MLB estimated to be a 460-plus-foot home run to left-center field in the third inning of Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke. He also drove in a go-ahead run in the sixth on a bases-loaded, infield chopper. “Decent first day at the plate,” said Arrieta, who departed at 77 pitches with a 3-2 lead after allowing a leadoff single in the sixth. “On the mound it was pretty good, too”

Spring cleaning: The Cubs sent seven more players out of camp Thursday, trimming the spring roster to 36. That included third baseman Jeimer Candelario, ranked seventh among Cubs prospects by Baseball America. Candelario and right-handers Alec Mills and Jake Buchanan were optioned to Class AAA Iowa. Non-roster pitchers Dylan Floro, Williams Perez and David Rollins were reassigned to minor-league camp. And right-hander Jim Henderson was released.

Chicago Sun-Times