Diamondbacks 4, Giants 2: Fan Service

We get by, with a little help from our friends…

Record: 42-42. Pace: 81-81. Change on 2024: +1.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The D-backs’ bullpen took only one pitch to cough up the lead at Chase Field tonight. But, in an unexpected and pleasant turn of events, the offense rebounded to re-take the lead, then John Curtiss and Shelby Miller bolted the door. Though not without its share of controversy, and perhaps the heroic sacrifice of a fan in the front row of the outfield bleachers. Lost a little in all the late drama was an excellent performance from Ryne Nelson, who took a shutout into the seventh inning. He held the Giants to five hits, walked none and struck out seven. Ryne effectively fought Logan Webb, who came in with the third-best ERA in the league, to a standstill.

Nelson set out his stall early, striking out a pair of Giants in the top of the first, on just 12 pitches. The three-pitch K of Heliot Ramos set the tone for the night, the hitter going down on three swings of fastballs up in the zone, at 95.8, 96.2 and 97.7 mph. The first time through the order, Nelson relied almost exclusively on the four-seam fastball, and it proved highly effective. He then mixed things up more the second time through the order, but he still had that elevated four-seamer in his pocket, and the visitors still struggled. They didn’t get a man into scoring position until there were two outs in the fifth, and though the next batter put the ball in play at 107.5 mph, it was lined straight to Ketel Marte at second.

Nelson had been exceedingly economical. He needed only 42 pitches to get through the fourth inning and his pitch count of 57 through five was the fewest needed by an Arizona pitcher this year to reach that point. A 1-2-3 sixth inning led him come out for the seventh. It had been a while – more than two weeks – since the last time a D-backs starter had recorded an out there (Zac Gallen on June 14). He allowed a one-out double, then an infield hit to Gerardo Perdomo which kept the runner at second. He got a fly-ball for the second out, and Torey Lovullo decided that was it, and went to the bullpen. If this felt like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” decision… Yeah.

I do get why Lovullo went there. Nelson was already at a season-high 88 pitches. All four balls in play that inning off Nelson had been quite hard-hit (velos between 91.7 and 98.4 mph), and the next batter up, Tyler Fitzgerald had doubled off Nelson in the fifth. But given the way the bullpen has been, you’ll understand fan queasiness. At least it didn’t take long. Juan Morillo’s first pitch was cranked to the gap in right-center, just off the tip of the glove of a despairing Alek Thomas. With two outs, both runners were on the move and scored easily. The game was tied at two, the runs being charged to Nelson. Morillo’s second pitch ended the seventh, just a little too late.

Let’s switch over to the D-backs offense, who initially had trouble dealing with Logan Webb, who was very much as advertised. He came in unbeated in June, with a 1.85 ERA across five starts, and a K:BB of 36:6. However, Arizona was able to scratch across a run in the third. Alek Thomas had the first of three gentle hits on the night, a bloop double to shallow left, with an exit velocity of… 68.3 mph. Jose Herrera tried to bunt him over, but the throw to first was a rare poor one by reigning Gold Glover Patrick Bailey, allowing Thomas to come home (above) for the first run. Fun fact: Thomas became the first D-back in the Statcast era to get three hits in a game, all with an EV below 84 mph]

It looked like that might be it, but with two outs in the sixth, Lourdes Gurriel golfed a 1-0 pitch to left-center. I really didn’t think it was anything other than a lazy fly-ball, but it kept carrying, and ended up a comfortable solo shot, at 409 feet. That gave the D-backs a bit of breathing room, though that only lasted until Morillo’s arrival swiftly led to the Giants Bettie Paging the game. In an interesting contrast, Giants’ manager Bob Melvin stuck with his starter past 100 pitches – and that backfired too, as one-out singles by Alek Thomas, Jose Herrera and Perdomo give the D-backs back the lead. Then came the top of the eighth, and the game somehow became even more interesting.

Given a severely depleted bullpen John Curtiss took over for the D-backs. With one out, Christian Koss launched one to the fence in left-center. Tim Tawa jumped for it, but a D-backs fan was also attempting to catch the ball, and got there first. The initial call on the field was out due to the interference. Melvin challenged, and though the out decision was overturned, they ruled the ball wouldn’t have left the park. The runner went to second. Curtiss got Rafael Devers to strikeout for his golden sombrero, and Shelby Miller took over, getting the final out to strand the home-run-that-wasn’t. That K came on a pitch off the outside edge, and Melvin subsequently got tossed. I await the JomBoy video with interest.

The final six outs of the game were relatively drama-free, enlivened mostly by Eugenio Suarez giving us some welcome insurance, hitting his 26th homer of the season. Miller completed the first four-out save of his career, and the losing streak was over. It was a significant win, on a day when the four teams ahead of Arizona – the Cardinals, Padres, Giants and Reds – all were beaten. The D-backs got back up to .500, and are four games back of the last wild-card spot. Beating the opponent’s ace was a great start to the series, and I hope the team can build on it for the rest of the week.

I should point out, I despise Morrissey with a vengeance. But had we ended up losing the game, the headline would have been the “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” and I would have gone full Smiths thereafter. I’d like to thank the offense, Curtiss and Miller for saving everyone from that fate. After a slow start to the GDT, things certainly picked up later on. Just the one went Sedona Red, though that does at least make picking Comment of the Night easy!

Back at it tomorrow night, with the same two teams and another 6:40 pm first pitch. Zac Gallen starts for Arizona so… uh, I guess we will see!