Diamondbacks' Christian Walker has huge night in critical win over White Sox
CHICAGO — Christian Walker could hardly have picked a better night to reach the 100 RBI mark for the first time, delivering a career-best performance in a potentially pivotal game for the Diamondbacks.
Walker slammed a pair of homers and had a bases-loaded triple, driving in six runs to help the Diamondbacks to a 15-4 romp over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Coming off a disappointing series in New York, where they lost two of three to the Yankees, and with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros looming in the final weekend of the season, the Diamondbacks seemingly need to capitalize on this series against a bad White Sox team.
They did just that on Tuesday, mashing their way to their 83rd win of the season despite falling behind 3-0 in the first inning.
Right-hander Ryne Nelson turned in a dominant performance in relief of a struggling Zach Davies, who gave up four runs in three innings. Beyond Walker, the Diamondbacks got big performances from a handful of others at the plate, including Ketel Marte, who homered and reached base two other times, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who had three hits, and Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas, who had two hits apiece.
With the win, the Diamondbacks (83-74) moved back in front of the Chicago Cubs (82-75) by a game for the second wild-card spot. They also gained a half-game on the Miami Marlins (81-75), whose game in New York against the Mets was postponed due to a soggy playing surface at Citi Field.
The Diamondbacks are close enough that a clinch scenario could be only days away. If they can finish off a sweep of the White Sox, they could clinch Thursday night with three losses by the Marlins and either two losses by the Cubs or one loss by the Reds.
With 103 RBIs, Walker becomes the 10th player in club history to surpass the century mark and the first since Eduardo Escobar in 2019. The feat has been accomplished 16 times in club history.
Walker shared credit with his teammates as well as coaches and support staff for being able to reach the 30-homer, 100-RBI plateaus.
“It makes me proud to think about,” Walker said. “It’s something I’ve had my eye on for a long time, especially at this level. It’s the standard for a corner guy, trying to slug, trying to drive in runs. That’s the standard. To be honest, it’s impossible without my teammates and guys getting on base and the traffic.”
Walker’s two homers give him 33 on the season. His first of the night put the Diamondbacks on the board in the second inning; his two-run shot in the sixth made it an 11-4 game in the sixth.
It was a night in which both teams played their ascribed roles. The White Sox, who are careening toward 100 losses, made costly mistakes at inopportune times, while the Diamondbacks, who are pushing for a playoff spot, took immediate advantage of the opportunities they were gifted.
Twice early in the game, the White Sox made key mistakes to open the door for the Diamondbacks’ offense. In the third, a throwing error by starter Jose Urena led to a two-run inning. Two innings later, White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson did not keep his foot on the bag on a routine force out; the Diamondbacks went on to score six times, with Walker’s triple the highlight of the inning.
“I think that’s what good teams are able to do to,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “They can put up some big numbers when you give them four or five outs.”
Nelson was impressive in the first relief appearance of his career. In 4 2/3 shutout innings, he gave up just one hit and two walks, striking out four.
“There’s an adrenaline rush that comes from running in from the pen,” Nelson said. “I used to do it in college so I think that it kind of took me right back there.”
Lovullo said Nelson tentatively had been penciled in to pitch on Thursday and provide bulk innings, either as a starter or in relief, but the Diamondbacks decided to audible when Davies began to falter, and they will have to look elsewhere to get through the series finale. Barring things going sideways on Wednesday, he expects his bullpen should be able to handle the workload.
“I think we have a lot of coverage,” he said.
Torey Lovullo on Kevin Ginkel’s usage: ‘He said he was ready’
CHICAGO — A day after reliever Kevin Ginkel suggested he was pitching despite being fatigued from a previous outing, manager Torey Lovullo stood by his decision to use him, saying Ginkel had told multiple people with the team he was available for Monday’s game.
“Whether he was fatigued or not, the way I look at it is, if you want it bad enough you’re not going to be tired,” Lovullo said. “That’s not just him; I’m not targeting him. I think that’s every athlete, period. He gave us what he could. I know he was probably a little fatigued, but it didn’t work out.”
Lovullo said he did not have any reason to believe Ginkel was fatigued ahead of giving him the ball in the eighth inning to protect a one-run lead at Yankee Stadium on Monday afternoon. Ginkel wound up giving up three runs in a game the Diamondbacks lost, 6-4.
Lovullo said Ginkel came up as available based on the reliever usage system the club has put in place, which takes into account things like pitch counts, number of recent appearances, etc. Moreover, Lovullo said the club “(gave) him every ability to say he’s not ready to go.”
“He said he was ready to several people,” Lovullo said. “Our model showed he was ready and able. I don’t want to put any player in any situation where they’re not ready or risking injury. Obviously the equation changes today, you can probably guess where that’s going. But he was ready to help us win a game yesterday.”
Ginkel said he was still sore following his 28-pitch outing from Sunday afternoon.
“I wasn’t feeling great, for sure,” Ginkel said after Monday’s loss. “After yesterday, I threw quite a few pitches, and then again today. I just didn’t have (my typical) stuff.”
Lovullo did not have any second thoughts about using Ginkel in the eighth inning on Sunday, at which point the Diamondbacks owned a 6-0 lead, noting that the top of the Yankees’ lineup was due up and he wanted Ginkel, who has been the club’s best reliever in recent months, on the mound to help secure a crucial win.
“I wanted him to go out there and preserve the lead,” Lovullo said. “It was Yankee Stadium. I’ve been in that stadium a lot, watched a lot of baseball games. The game changes quickly in that stadium. I wanted to preserve. And every win is huge.”
Coming up for Diamondbacks
Wednesday: At Chicago, 11:10 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (2-9, 6.08) vs. White Sox TBA.
Thursday: At Chicago, 11:10 a.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. White Sox RHP Touki Toussaint (4-7, 5.10).
Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen vs. Astros RHP Hunter Brown (11-13, 5.12).
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What to know about the White Sox
The White Sox have been one of baseball’s more disappointing teams over the past couple of seasons, finishing with a .500 record last year and stumbling toward a possible 100-loss season this year. They wound up firing longtime baseball operations leaders Ken Williams and Rick Hahn and promoting a top assistant, Chris Getz, to be their new general manager. In the midst of the disappointment, CF Luis Robert Jr. is having a strong season, hitting .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers. DH Eloy Jimenez is hitting .274/.318/.441, a dropoff from previous years for him. The White Sox parted ways with a number of players at the trade deadline, including RHPs Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn, and recently lost RHP Michael Kopech to a knee injury.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DBacks, powered by Christian Walker's 6 RBIs, take care of White Sox
