Arizona Diamondbacks win third in a row after wild ending
Andrew Chafin felt no need to watch further, dropping his head as soon as bat met ball. At third base, Josh Rojas did the same. In left field, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. gave a cursory jog towards the fence. Eventually, he looked up, becoming perhaps the only Diamondback to watch Lane Thomas’ home run sail into the left field seats.
Back on the mound, Chafin wiped his brow with his left hand, pushing his cap back until it barely clung to his head. From his perch, he could see what this all meant.
The Diamondbacks had taken a 6-2 lead into the ninth inning, comfortably holding a series win in their grasp. Then, in a flash, it disappeared. Scott McGough recorded two outs but also surrendered a homer and a walk. After Chafin relieved him, the results were only worse. Two singles followed by Thomas’ moonshot. A 6-2 lead had flipped, replaced by a 7-6 deficit. Unquestionably, the worst loss of the season loomed.
It hurt not just because of Saturday. It hurt because of how familiar it felt. Through five weeks, these Diamondbacks have avoided deflating moments. They haven’t lost three games in a row or suffered any colossal chokes. Blowing a 6-2 lead in the ninth, though? That was pure, unfiltered 2022 Diamondbacks bullpen.
“A lot of frustration,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Anger. There wasn't one person that was happy in that dugout.”
Down at the end of the dugout, though, one person got to work, determined to not let the script be final. Gurriel, the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth, stood by hitting coach Joe Mather, getting a last-second rundown of Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan’s repertoire. Involved in that report: Finnegan throws his sinker more than 77% of the time. So Gurriel, already 3 for 4 on the day, stepped into the batter's box, waiting for a sinker to arrive.
On the first pitch, it did. And Gurriel made no mistake, launching perhaps the most impactful hit of the Diamondbacks season out to left field and setting the course for an 8-7 comeback win. He — like the rest of Chase Field — wasn’t sure the ball cleared the fence at first. A fan snagged the ball away from left fielder Stone Garrett, necessitating a replay review to determine there was no interference.
Gurriel didn’t need that finality. As soon as the umpire signaled for a home run, he tore around second base, screaming into the dugout. “We can do it, we can get it done,” he recalled yelling afterwards. At home plate, he pointed to the sky, unleashed two emphatic claps and pumped the crowd up with a two-handed ‘get up’ motion, not that they needed it.
The home run capped a stretch that has showcased Gurriel’s importance to the Diamondbacks. Entering the season, their starting outfield was entrenched as the young trio of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy.
But while Carroll has starred, Thomas and McCarthy have both struggled mightily, with the latter earning a demotion to Triple-A Reno. In McCarthy’s place, Gurriel has slotted into left field nearly every day, providing the Diamondbacks with a steady right-handed bat in the middle of their lineup. Since April 12, he’s batting .352 with a .966 OPS.
“Lourdes can hit,” Lovullo said. “He can barrel up the baseball. And he's got a great approach. ... Three left-handed hitting horses were getting most of the attention. But Lourdes was always in our plans.”
Gurriel’s blast might have been the key blow, the one that flipped the mood of a burgeoning disaster, but it wasn’t all the Diamondbacks needed. Even after he returned to the dugout to a mob scene, they still required one more run to prevent extra innings.
Thanks to Finnegan’s erraticism, they got it. Christian Walker singled and Corbin Carroll walked, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Dominic Fletcher moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt, before an intentional walk to Geraldo Perdomo loaded the bases for Pavin Smith.
Smith might have thought about the moment — about the fact that he’s never had a professional walk-off — except that he didn’t have time to. With the automatic intentional walk, he had to rush into the batter's box, heart pounding.
“You've gotta take a step back and breathe,” Smith said. “I was taking a couple deep breaths just to calm my heart rate down and treat it like a normal AB.”
Ultimately, he had little to do. Finnegan, with four balls on five pitches, finished the job for him. The notion of swinging at the decisive pitch — a 3-1 sinker well inside — didn’t even cross his mind.
Instead, through little volition of his own, Smith unstrapped his shin guard and jogged down to first base, mobbed by teammates who, with a little less fortitude, might have thought they already lost the game.
“I was really proud of the way we fought,” Lovullo said. “Because we could have collapsed and just fallen completely apart and lost this game by one run, woken up tomorrow and been feeling sorry for ourselves.”
-Theo Mackie
Pitcher José Ruiz glad for opportunity with Diamondbacks
The 2023 season got off to a good start for former Chicago White Sox-now-Diamondbacks relief pitcher José Ruiz, who pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts for the White Sox in Houston on March 31.
Then, disaster. Ruiz allowed nine earned runs with four walks and two hit batters in 2 ⅔ innings over his next three outings. The White Sox designated the Venezuelan right-hander for assignment, and the Diamondbacks acquired him for cash considerations on April 11.
With the White Sox, Ruiz accumulated an earned run average of 22.09. Since joining the D-Backs, the 28-year-old has settled down considerably, with three runs allowed in nine innings. Ruiz has walked only one with nine strikeouts, and opponents entered Saturday batting .235 against him as opposed to .421 in Chicago.
Ruiz is thankful to the Diamondbacks for giving him another opportunity.
"It's going good here. Working hard, keep on improving and helping the team to keep on winning," Ruiz said in Spanish before Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals.
From the first day he arrived, the team took a look at his mechanics and went about changing them. Ruiz has changed his routine in workouts, even his thought process since coming to Arizona.
He has nothing negative to say about what happened in Chicago.
"Just take advantage of every chance I get. I just keep working. It's tough that things didn't go well in Chicago. But now I am here and I'm excited," Ruiz said.
-Jose M. Romero
Saturday's Diamondbacks-Nationals pitching matchup
Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry (1-0, 6.52) vs. Nationals LHP MacKenzie Gore (3-2, 3.77).
Henry was better in his last start after struggling in his first Major League outing of the year. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking one. It's not a line that jumps off the page, but Henry was strong through five innings, allowing just one run before running into trouble in the sixth. That outing also came in the elevation of Coors Field in Denver. ... Gore has been excellent this season for Washington. He was a key piece of the blockbuster trade for Juan Soto, coming over from the Padres at the trade deadline. ... Gore did not appear in the majors for the Nationals last year as he dealt with injuries, but was on the Opening Day roster this year. ... His last outing was his worst of the year, as he allowed four runs in four innings against the Cubs.
Coming up
Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.39) vs. Nationals RHP Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.41).
Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (4-1, 2.53) vs. Marlins LHP Braxton Garrett (1-1, 5.81).
Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 13.50) vs. Marlins LHP Jesus Luzardo (2-2, 3.66).
Early reading for Diamondbacks-Nationals series
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One step closer: Prospect Kristian Robinson secures visa, nears return to minors
Throwback approach: Diamondbacks catcher Moreno's style helps him throw out baserunners
First-year report: MLB rookie class off to uneven start
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Diamondbacks Daily: Diamondbacks win third in a row after wild ending
