D-backs Complete Thrilling Walk-Off Win in Burnes' Home Debut

The Arizona Diamondbacks won a thrilling game in walk-off fashion over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night by a score of 5-4. Arizona's offense was silent for much of the contest, but a ninth-inning surge flipped the score in their favor.

The D-backs' bats were held completely stagnant through eight, but the magic began in the ninth. Gabriel Moreno worked a one-out walk, and Alek Thomas ripped a middle-cut fastball 106 MPH off the right-center field wall for an RBI triple — and Arizona's first run in 17 innings.

A walk to Garrett Hampson then brought star outfielder Corbin Carroll to the plate, who smashed an RBI double for Arizona's first RISP hit of the series, bringing the score to 4-3 and putting the tying run at second with one out.

Geraldo Perdomo worked an eight-pitch walk, and Jake McCarthy ripped the first pitch he saw for the tie, putting Perdomo in position to score the winning run at third base. After Josh Naylor was intentionally walked, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. quickly sent a sacrifice fly just deep enough to right field, scoring Perdomo to secure the win.

Carroll extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a single on the first pitch of the game, and his double helped him finish 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI.

On Eugenio Suárez's bobblehead night, the slugging third baseman reached base twice. He knocked his first single of the season and walked, finishing 1-for-3, but was unfortunately stranded both times.

The D-backs had not scored a run in the series until the ninth inning of Saturday's game, and had been shut out for 17 innings. They stranded eight baserunners, but managed to plate them when it mattered the most.

"I was really proud of our guys today, you know, we kept fighting and grinding, and it wasn't an easy game. ... It would be easy for this team to shut down, but they don't," manager Torey Lovullo told reporters postgame.

"And like I keep saying, you just don't know where the rally is going to start. You don't know how it's going to start, who's going to start it, and then who's going to be in position to do something special like the last two hitters, McCarthy and Gurriel."

Lovullo said that frustration can build easily when staring at the zero in the run column through a game like Saturday, but that the ninth inning served as a reminder of what this team is capable of.

"We do have a dynamic approach, we are good hitters, we can be savages in the box. We started to have some really stubborn at-bats. We started to get really specific as to what we were looking for and a lot of really good things showed up," Lovullo said.

Besides the offense, right-handed ace Corbin Burnes made his Chase Field Debut as a member of the Diamondback and delivered a solid, if not unblemished, start. Still, he managed to go six innings with three earned runs and three strikeouts, collecting his first Quality Start in Arizona.

Burnes retired the first three batters he saw with relative ease, striking out Christian Yelich to end the first inning. His trademark cutter topped out at 97.

But a rocky second inning began with a weak leadoff ground ball single. Then a missed call by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez turned a potential strike three into a walk. Burnes proceeded to allow an RBI single, and walked the next two batters to load the bases with no outs. He then dialed up a ground ball double play, though that scored the Brewers' second run.

Burnes allowed four hits and two walks, but set down 11 of 12 batters from innings three through five before Jackson Chourio launched a solo home run to left field to make it 3-0.

Right-handed reliever Ryne Nelson entered in relief in the seventh inning, and set down the Brewers in order on nine pitches.

He did nearly the same in the eight, retiring the side on 10 pitches, including a strikeout of the red-hot Brice Turang. Nelson pitched three innings and struck out three, allowing one earned run off the bat of William Contreras. For the most part, Nelson looked extremely dominant, throwing 36 pitches, 27 for strikes and hitting 97 MPH on his trademark fastball.