Chaos on Basepaths Sets Tone in Diamondbacks Win

Coming off an emotional series sweep against the Cubs, the Diamondbacks had a tough challenge against a desperate team trying to stay in the Wild Card race. On a day their ace struggled to get through five innings, the offense erupted for eight runs to cruise to an 8-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. They collected 13 hits, turned three inning-ending double plays, and the bullpen fired four scoreless innings to close it out.

"Solid, solid team effort today, there were so many good things that happened during the game. You can't just target one thing, the base-running was aggressive, the situational hitting was timely, we were building the inning offensively, we were patient."

The big moment of the game came in the bottom of the second, as Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte attempted a double steal. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey threw the ball to third, which was lost by third baseman Wilmer Flores when attempting the tag. After a mad scramble, Flores committed another error trying to throw Carroll out at home, allowing Marte to race all the way home to put Arizona up 5-2. With the Giants committing the most errors in MLB, the D-backs wanted to put pressure on them and make them play as fast as possible to force them into defensive mistakes.

The moment was set up with the D-backs exploiting some free passes earlier in the inning. After Gabriel Moreno was hit by a pitch, Geraldo Perdomo blooped a double down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position. Corbin Carroll drove in both on a ground ball through a big hole down the third base line, for his 27th double and 60th extra base hit. He's now just five away from passing Chris Young for most as a rookie in team history. Following a Marte walk, the opportunity presented itself.

The early offense allowed Zac Gallen to settle in after the Giants put up two runs in the top of the first. He followed with three consecutive scoreless innings to allow the hitters to tack onto the lead. The D-backs loaded the bases on Alex Wood in the fourth and Marte lined a single to left center that stretched the lead to five. Those proved to be valuable insurance runs, as the Giants crept closer the following half-inning.

With a comfortable lead, it looked like Gallen would get deep into the game with just 57 pitches through four innings. However, the D-backs ace would struggle in the fifth as the Giants loaded the bases with one out before scoring two runs to cut the lead to three. With his back against the wall, Gallen rang up Joc Pederson on three fastballs to end the threat and close out his start.

"What happened in that last inning, I just think he was just mislocating some pitches and falling behind in some counts. He's careful, he knows he probably didn't want to give up any slug in a very critical situation, so he was just picking at the zone a little bit but made pitches when he had to."

With the D-backs closing in on a potential Wild Card spot, it is a little concerning to see their ace struggle down the stretch. Gallen has allowed four runs in four of his past five starts, with a complete game shutout mixed in between.

After the Giants were able to chip away at the lead, the D-backs again answered back in the bottom of the fifth. Alek Thomas led off the inning with a triple to the left-center gap then scored on a Moreno sac fly. That proved to be a key insurance run and allowed Lovullo to use the bullpen in the best way possible. Miguel Castro, Andrew Saalfrank, Kevin Ginkel, and Paul Sewald each threw a scoreless inning to close out the deal. Ginkel got a little bit of help from Thomas, who turned in another amazing catch in center field to rob Michael Conforto of a run-scoring extra-base hit.

"Alek, he's amazing. He just doesn't stop out there, he doesn't let up, it's no-fly zone. You hit a fly ball out there that's catchable, he's going to catch it." Here is a highlight reel that includes his catch if you haven't seen it yet

Diamondbacks Beat Giants 8-4 https://t.co/9r3C78lflN #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) September 20, 2023

The D-backs have won their first four games on a critical homestand, but they'll face another tough challenge tomorrow. The Giants will send their ace, Logan Webb, in a desperate attempt to remain within striking distance of the Wild Card race to go up against Merrill Kelly. The first pitch at Chase Field will be at 12:40 pm tomorrow.