9th Inning Rally Keys D-Backs 5-3 Win Over A's
Sport Radar
The Diamondbacks scored two runs in the top of the ninth to break a 3-3 tie and hung on to defeat the Oakland Athletics 5-3 in the rubber match of a three game series. The team with the worst record in MLB played the D-backs tough, but in the end Arizona did what they had to do to take the series.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled to start the 9th inning, and two walks later Jose Herrera lifted a sacrifice fly ball to right with the bases loaded that scored Gurriel for the go ahead run. Ketel Marte then singled to score Dominic Fletcher, and the winning margin had been secured.
Ryne Nelson was magnificent through the first five innings. He allowed a lead off double in the first inning to Esteury Ruiz, but got a strikeout and two groundouts to strand the speedy A's centerfielder. A one-out walk to Jace Peterson in the second inning was erased when Herrera threw him out trying to steal. Nelson then retired the next 10 batters and had only pitched to one over the minimum through five innings.
But he lost his control in the bottom sixth inning, walking the bases loaded and only getting one out with a strikeout, his sixth of the game. Torey Lovullo went to the pen bringing in Luis Frias who had just been called up to provide some depth to the tired bullpen. Frias recorded two outs to strand the runners and protect Nelson's 3-0 lead. Nelson's final line was 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 Runs, 4 Walks, 6 K's.
Nelson lamented that he couldn't get deeper and at least finish the 6th inning. "The bullpen been's getting a little taxed, for a minute there I thought I was really going to help out the bullpen but the sixth inning got a little dicey. That's something I've got to work on, being able to work through stuff like that." Today was the first time in his last six starts that he's pitched into the 6th inning, and it was just enough for the bullpen to squeak by.
That lead had been provided courtesy of a solo homer by Christian Walker in the first inning, his 11th, and a two run shot to center by Corbin Carroll top of the sixth. Carrolls 6th homer of the year was his first since May 5th.
Unfortunately when Frias came back out for the bottom of the seventh inning he immediately showed why he's been unable to stick in the majors despite numerous promotions over the last three seasons. He walked the first two batters faced and fell behind 3-0 to Ramon Laureano before giving up a game tying three-run homer. Lovullo wasted no time getting Frias out of the game after the homer, bringing in Kyle Nelson.
Nelson gave up a couple of hits, but Dominic Fletcher nailed a runner at home trying to score to extinguish the threat. Jose Ruiz, who threw 36 pitches in last night's 12 inning game, managed to work around two baserunners eighth to stop the A's from scoring, giving the offense a chance to take the lead in the ninth. Miguel Castro pitched a perfect final frame for his 3rd save of the year. Ruiz got his first win of the season, and Shintaro Fujinami (1-5) took to the loss. The D-backs record goes to 25-19 and they're three games up in the wild card as of this writing. The A's drop to 10-35, despite battling hard for the entire series.
After the game Lovullo said he was emotionally spent. "I feel like it was a huge win for us, there were some moments where we could have shut down and felt sorry for ourselves but we didn't. I'm very proud of this group. They fought as hard as I've seen this team fight all year long."
The Diamondbacks fly to Pittsburgh tonight and have a day off tomorrow before starting a three game series Friday against the Pirates.
