Torey Lovullo's Team Inspired by Win in Las Vegas over the Athletics

The Arizona Diamondbacks' offense came alive in Las Vegas Sunday, outscoring the Athletics by a score of 7-5. The D-backs rapped out 8 hits and the pitchers managed to limit the damage and hold on despite allowing 11 hits and issuing eight walks. The A's pitchers issued nine walks of their own, as the minor league flavor took over in this one.

Lovullo was happier than usual for a Spring Training win. This trip was a great opportunity for the minor league players to join the veterans and get some experience.

"Winning is always fun," Lovullo said. "We, first of all, prioritize development and the things that we've got to get to day by day. But when you take a little road trip like this and you win a game, I think the group is pretty excited. And I feel the same way."

Lovullo felt the team swung the bat well, and appreciated the patient approaches.

"We were down 4-0. We just had some really patient approaches, had an all field approach. We just kept tacking on some runs. But for me, it's all about the youngsters that were here, watching them play, trying to get everybody in the game. So they go home and have a story to tell tonight"

One of those young players was Demetrio Crisantes, who came into the game in the seventh and split the gap for an RBI double. He also drew a walk in the ninth inning. He is one of the D-backs' very top prospects, hitting .341 across two levels last year in the low minors.

"Crisantes we've known a lot about. We're learning more about him. And we love the approach. It was a big knock in that left center field gap,"

Ryan Waldschmidt just missed his second homer in two days, hitting a ball 415 feet to dead center, but was robbed on a great catch from Denzel Clarke of the A's who leaped high up over the top of the wall to bring it back.

One major leaguer showing the younger players how it's done was Geraldo Perdomo. He made a terrific diving stop in the hole between third and short, followed by a strong throw to just nab Jacob Wilson. He also had a single, drew two walks and stole three bases, including a steal of home.

Blake Walston got the start and worked 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks, striking out two. He threw 52 pitches, 33 for strikes. His fastball topped out over 93 in the first inning, but he averaged 91.4 for the outing. By the third inning his fastest pitch was 89.

Velocity has never been the name of the game for the tall lefty however. In order to take the next step he'll need to limit the walks. He walked two batters in the second inning and fell behind 1-0 before giving up an RBI single.

When he's not walking batters Walston's mix of fastballs, cutters, sweepers, and changeups can keep hitters off balance and induce weak contact. He gave up hard contact in the third that included a double and a single, ultimately resulting in two runs.

After the game Walston said "I felt pretty good, I started off nice, I lost my command towards the end, but something to build on."

Walston felt his slider was sharp at the beginning but started to fall off towards the end and his fastball had good life on it early.

"I think part of it is just getting back into the feel of things, and how early it is still. I don't normally do very well in spring anyway. I usually figure it out and start reading hitters better, that's kind of my game."

Walston has been working on his lower half and some grip changes. By his own admission he didn't have the best results today, but that's what spring training is for.

Walston made two starts and had four relief appearances in 2024, getting 18.1 major league innings. He's being stretched out as a starter however and currently projects to be in the Triple-A Reno Aces rotation. But the major league team does not have a lot of left-hand pitching depth and he could easily be called up as need arises to fill a long relief role once again.

Juan Morillo got into the game, lighting up the radar gun with multiple pitches at 100 MPH. The former Dodger prospect has been in major league camp with the team, but had an early spring injury. Now 25, if he can harness his stuff and throw enough strikes, he could be another weapon down the line.

Box Score