Arizona Diamondbacks rally past Oakland Athletics in ninth inning, capture series

Diamondbacks beat A's behind ninth-inning rally

OAKLAND, Calif. — For a brief period Wednesday afternoon, the Diamondbacks were in peril of giving the league-worst Oakland A's their first series win at home this season. Thanks to a ninth-inning rally, they instead won, 5-3.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. It brought back memories of Tuesday night, when the Diamondbacks failed to score the automatic runner on second base in any of the three extra innings. This time, Pavin Smith moved Gurriel to third on a flyout to deep centerfield. After two walks, Jose Herrera brought home the run by lining a pitch from Adrian Martinez into right for a sacrifice fly. Ketel Marte extended the lead to two with a single down the right-field line.

"I was looking to get him up," Herrera said about Martinez. "I know he's got a great changeup and he wants to get a groundball to get out of the inning. So my mindset was to get a pitch up in the zone and try to put the ball in the air."

Miguel Castro closed out the game with a 1-2-3 bottom half. Outside of a turbulent seventh inning in which Luis Frías surrendered a three-run homer, it was a strong day of pitching for the Diamondbacks. Starter Ryne Nelson struck out six and only allowed one hit in 5 1/3 innings, although he did walk three batters in his final inning and four overall.

"He was lights out," Manager Torey Lovullo said. "Just attacking the zone and just very aggressive with all pitches in all areas and following a great gameplan."

The pitching was supported by a solo homer from Christian Walker, his team-leading 11th, and a two-run shot from Corbin Carroll.

"I'm exhausted," Lovullo said. "Emotionally spent right now and I can't imagine what these players feel like. I feel like it was a huge win for us. There were some moments where we could've shut down and felt sorry for ourselves but we didn't. I'm also very proud of this group. They fought as hard as I've seen the team fight all year long."

Luis Frias struggles as Diamondbacks bullpen blows another lead

OAKLAND, Calif. — For the second day in a row, the Diamondbacks bullpen choked away a comfortable late inning lead. After six innings Wednesday, they led, 3-0, in large part because of an excellent start from Ryne Nelson, who allowed one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

The warning signs started to come in Nelson's final inning, when he walked three batters, ending an outing that looked ticketed for the sixth and beyond. Luis Frías got Nelson out of the jam but couldn't repeat the feat in the seventh.

He walked the first two batters of the inning. Then, on a 1-2 count to Ramón Laureano, Frías served up a no-doubt, three run home run. The inning could have been even worse for the Diamondbacks, but Dominic Fletcher made an excellent play later on to throw out a runner at home on a soft single into shallow center field.

Corbin Carroll homers to center

OAKLAND, Calif. — Corbin Carroll entered Wednesday's game mired in a 5 for 37 (.135) stretch, the worst run of his major league career thus far. Before first pitch, though, he said he had been feeling better in recent days.

In the sixth inning, he made that improved feeling count. The Diamondbacks star outfielder took a 92 mph fastball over the middle out to straightaway center field, extending their lead to 3-0. Geraldo Perdomo came around to score on the blast after having walked one batter earlier.

The homer was Carroll's sixth of the year but just his second in the last month.

Ryne Nelson in control early

OAKLAND, Calif. — With their bullpen taxed after Tuesday's 12-inning loss, the Diamondbacks needed a solid start from Ryne Nelson, who has struggled of late. Through four innings, Nelson has delivered.

He's needed just 42 pitches to get through four scoreless, with the only hit coming on a leadoff grounder from Esteury Ruiz that rolled through the right side. Nelson relied heavily on his four-seam fastball the first time through the order, using it 76% of the time. He has four strikeouts so far, already tied for his most on the season.

The Diamondbacks lead, 1-0. Their offense has done little outside of Christian Walker's home run to lead off the second.

Diamondbacks take early lead on Christian Walker home run

Capping a 10-pitch plate appearance, Christian Walker led off the second inning inning Wednesday by blasting a Luis Medina curve ball 413 feet to left-center. The home run staked Arizona starter Ryne Nelson to a 1-0 lead as the Diamondbacks look to take the rubber game of the current 3-game series.

Walker's homer was his team-leading 11th, and boosted his club-high RBI total to 31.

Alek Thomas sent to Reno, Luis Frias brought up

The Diamondbacks have bolstered their bullpen by recalling RHP Luis Frías from Triple-A Reno. To make space on the roster, they optioned OF Alek Thomas to Reno following Tuesday night's loss to Oakland.

For more on the move: Why the Arizona Diamondbacks optioned outfielder Alek Thomas to Triple-A Reno

Wednesday's Diamondbacks-Athletics pitching matchup

Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.20) vs. Athletics RHP Luis Medina (0-2, 8.18).

Nelson has seen nearly two more ticks of velocity on his fastball in his last two starts, thanks to an adjustment made by pitching coach Brent Strom in his delivery. The improved pitch, though, hasn't paid off in his final results. Nelson allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Giants last time out. ... Over his last three starts, Nelson has a 7.99 ERA. ... After pitching to a 1.47 ERA in his first three major league starts last year, Nelson has seen his strikeouts per nine drop from 7.9 to 5.8 this year. ... Medina arrived in Oakland last year as part of the trade that sent Frankie Montas to the Yankees. He debuted on April 26 and struggled in his first outing. Last time out was much better as he allowed three runs in six innings while striking out three and walking none.

'A shell of what it was': For Diamondbacks with Oakland connections, A's move hits home

Coming up

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At Pittsburgh, 3:35 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (6-1, 2.35) vs. Pirates RHP Johan Oviedo (2-3, 5.14).

Saturday: At Pittsburgh, 1:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-1, 8.59) vs. Pirates RHP Roansy Contreras (3-4, 4.40).

Sunday: At Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-3, 2.92) vs. Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (5-1, 2.38).

Early Diamondbacks-Athletics reading

Extra pop: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. giving D-Backs what they expected, and more

No relief: How can Diamondbacks address recent bullpen woes?

Class by himself: Zac Gallen no longer a a fringe player

Timing issue: New pitch clock might be factor in blown save spike

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks beat Oakland Athletics with ninth-inning rally