TL;DR: The offense struck early, the pitching was suspect, and the D-Backs survived a relentless comeback attempt to win another series.
There have already been some crazy games through the first few weeks of this season for the Diamondbacks. We’ve already witnessed a game in which the team scored eight runs in a single inning, see a player tie a record for the most number of home runs in a single game, and the absolute gut punch that was last Friday. So, in that context, this afternoon’s wackiness may end up being a relative footnote on this season, but that didn’t stop it from being an incredibly entertaining game. It featured nearly everything you could want in a baseball game: wild momentum swings, incredible defensive plays by both teams, and a result that quite literally came down to the final pitch.
For a game that had as much excitement as this one, the teams did not wait to get the fireworks started as Ketel Marte hit his first of two home runs of the day on the seventh pitch of the game that was closer to the ground than the strike zone. But that didn’t deter Marte who nearly reached McCovey Cove on the solo shot to give the D-Backs an early 1-0 lead. It was the first of four consecutive innings in which the D-Backs would score and take advantage of an ineffective opener in Jordan Hicks and an uneven performance from Hayden Birdsong.
After those first fireworks from Marte in the first, the D-Backs really got the party started in the visiting half of the second when they opened the inning with four consecutive hits and a walk that plated two runs and loaded the bases with no outs for Corbin Carroll. He then smoked a sweeper left out on the plate that was sadly caught on a dive by first baseman David Villar and then doubled up Jose Herrera before striking out Marte to extinguish the rally. The offense was just getting started however as the team again opened the next inning with three consecutive hits, culminating in Eugenio Suarez’s three-run homer to score Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Josh Naylor. Their final offensive stanza came in the very next inning when Marte blasted his second homer of the game to provide the D-Backs a commanding 8-2 lead.
Sadly, despite the offensive explosion that his teammates were providing, Eduardo Rodriguez extended his personal struggles along with the team’s inconsistency from their starters. He made it through just four innings and threw nearly as many balls (35) as strikes (41). Immediately after the bat’s first crooked number, Rodriguez loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single with just one out before Christian Koss dunked a ball in front of Carroll to get the Giants on the board. Newly-minted D-Backs’ killer Heliot Ramos added a sac fly to make it a one-run game at 3-2, but he didn’t really cash in until the fourth when he roped a double down the left-field line that reached the wall and scored Luis Matos and Villar in Rodriguez’s penultimate batter.
It’s worth tipping your proverbial hat to the San Francisco bullpen who absolutely shut down a dynamic Arizona offense. After Marte’s two-run blast in the fourth, Giant’s relievers would bend (five walks and a pair of singles), but not break to give their offense the opportunity to mount a comeback – and they absolutely delivered. They scratched across two more runs in the home half of the seventh off sensational youngster Jung Hoo Lee’s sixth homer of the season to make it a two-run game. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, erstwhile closer Shelby Miller decided to make the game even more interesting by again loading the bases with Giants and just one out for Mike Yastrzemski who thankfully struck out on a nasty inside fastball. However, pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr entered for Villar and battled his way into an RBI-walk that made it a one-run game instead. Miraculously though, Christian Koss got just underneath another fastball that settled in Alek Thomas’ glove to end the game before my blood pressure fully went through the roof.
I would be remiss to omit the extra wackiness that was the bottom of the eighth. Following a two-out walk to Koss, Ramos bounced a ball deep behind third base that Suarez collected and nearly threw out Ramos at first, but was slightly off target. Pavin Smith then alertly realized that Koss was on the ground and threw the ball to Geraldo Perdomo who tagged Koss out and end the inning. However, Bob Melvin successfully argued for an umpire convention which decided (correctly in my opinion) that Jordan Lawlar had obstructed Koss on his way around second base and should be called safe to allow the inning to continue. Unsurprisingly, Torey Lovullo was none too pleased by this decision and in the process of arguing his case was summarily thrown out of the game – but not before ejecting the entire umpiring crew by himself. In fairness, it was not a good look for Lawlar who made no attempt to give Koss a running lane to third. Of course, after all the drama and finger wagging, Flores weakly popped out to Herrera to end the inning and scoring threat. The entire saga is worth a rewatch if you have the time:
We as fans and baseball writers made much ado about this 16-game stretch that the team wrapped up today. It included a tough nine-game stretch against the NL East powerhouses, the opening salvo of their season series against the Dodgers, and their first intradivision games of the season. They now get a well-deserved off day tomorrow – their first since April 28th – before hosting the woeful Rockies at Chase Field and then embarking on a difficult road trip against those same Dodgers and Cardinals. Still, in between those off days, the D-Backs managed to go a perfect 8-8 with a series record of 2-2-1. It may prove to be one of the toughest stretches in the season for the team and they should absolutely be commended for maintaining their poise and concentration despite some extremely painful losses. Rest up and self-medicate however you choose because this team is showing no signs of slowing anytime soon.