No team has surrendered more blown leads than the Arizona Diamondbacks, a trend that continued tonight as their bullpen faltered again, resulting in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Diamondbacks held a 3-0 lead up until the 6th inning, where the Cardinals broke through off Brandon Pfaadt. After Pfaadt walked the first three batters that he faced, Laars Nootbaar smacked a base hit into left, driving in two runs.
While Scott McGough did come in to save any further damage by getting a double play to end the inning, it took no time for St. Louis to tie the game in the 7th.
And who other than former Diamondbacks’ star Paul Goldschmidt to hit a 432-foot bomb to start the inning.
Then, in the 9th, with the game still tied at three, following Goldschmidt reaching on an infield single, valley native Nolan Gorman took Kyle Nelson yard to walk off the Diamondbacks.
Gorman was drafted in the 1st round of the 2018 draft out of Sandra Day O’Connor high school in Phoenix.
Nolan Gorman sends the crowd home happy with a walkoff home run! 💥
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/Xuwkq7hxQn
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 23, 2024
While the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff’s allowance of five runs in the final four innings certainly contributed to the loss, the offense also bears responsibility.
Newcomers Eugenio Suarez and Joc Pederson combined for five of the Diamondbacks’ nine hits, but the team squandered multiple scoring opportunities, including leaving 10 runners on base and failing to extend their lead in the 5th inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd and only one out.
Arizona will return to action tomorrow at 4:45, with Tommy Henry expected to take the mound.
