D-backs Blow Out White Sox on Christian Walker's Big Night
Christian Walker's big night at the plate powered the Diamondbacks to an 15-4 blowout of the Chicago White Sox. Walker tripled and homered twice, driving in six runs. The last player to achieve that feat in a game against the White Sox was Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, who did it in 1948.
"Oh wow, that's amazing," said Walker, "What a name to be paired with, regardless of the reasoning, it's an honor."
Also in the game, Walker picked up his 100th RBI for the season. He is the first player since Eduardo Escobar in 2019 and the 9th Diamondback to have a 30 home run, and 100 RBI in franchise history. It was a personal goal the D-backs first baseman made for the season.
"At the beginning of the year, you set a standard for yourself. You try to do small goals, they're more achievable. Over the course of the season, just leaning on guys around me, leaning on the hitting staff, leaning on my teammates. It's a great accolade, a great personal thing, but I think what's cool is what that represents for the team and how much traffic we have on the bases every night. I can't do that without my teammates and staff supporting us."
Coming off a very frustrating series loss in New York and trailing early in this game, the D-backs once again showed the ability to bounce back not only between games but also during a game. Zach Davies turned in another short start, allowing four runs on eight hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in just three innings. Eloy Jimenez drove in all four runs for the White Sox, the first three coming on a three-run home run in the first.
"It was a grinder for Zach," said manager Torey Lovullo, "I was budgeting innings, knowing what we're going to be facing on Thursday. I felt like if Zach gave us that third inning, which he did, we can go out there and use Nelly the way that we did."
Lovullo summoned Ryne Nelson from the bullpen to start the 4th and the rookie right-hander responded. He pitched his way into the 8th, showing improved fastball and slider command, allowing just one single and walking two while striking out four in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
"The cycle of the innings, it started to happen real quick," said Lovullo. "It was nine, 10 pitch innings, get our offense back in the dugout. I felt a shift in momentum when he was getting us back in the dugout the way he did. Without him today, we don't win this game."
With the Wild Card series being a best of three, there are a lot of roster spots available for grabs. Nelson's performance tonight very well could go a long way in shaping how Lovullo uses his pitching staff. Having an arm that could either start or eat up innings out of the pen could prove to be valuable.
As Nelson was putting up zeros, a pair of defensive miscues by Chicago allowed the D-backs to fight their way back into the game. In the 3rd, pitcher José Ureña fielded a comebacker and threw the ball into center field to allow Arizona to score two. The following inning the D-backs successfully challenged a forceout at second, as Tim Anderson was off the base when receiving the throw. That opened up the floodgates, as six runs came around to score. Walker's bases-clearing triple was the big hit in the inning, giving Arizona a 7-4 lead. The D-backs continued to tack on from there, putting the game away by scoring in four of their last five innings at the plate.
With the Cubs dropping a game against the Braves, Arizona's lead for the second National League Wild Card spot increases to a full game and their magic number for clinching a playoff spot is four. They'll need to continue their momentum against the White Sox tomorrow, with rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (2-9, 6.08 ERA) toeing the rubber. Chicago has not named a starter for the second game of the series yet. The first pitch at Guaranteed Rate Field with be at 11:10 am MST.
