The first game of the series against the Miami Marlins was a frustrating night for all Diamondbacks hitters. They were coming off an impressive series win, scoring 13 runs in their two wins, against Los Angeles but then returned home and laid an egg. Braxton Garrett shut them out on just 95 pitches, holding Arizona to just four hits on the night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Yeah, I think for us, you know, last night you tip your hat, but that’s not going to happen very often to us,” said Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, “We’re a good offense, we have a lot of confidence in ourselves.”
The Diamondbacks found themselves trailing 1-0 after the top of the first, after the Marlins clipped Jordan Montgomery for a run in the first. However, there was no panic from the Diamondbacks hitters.
“I think the decision is not freaking out when you get down early or even down by a couple,” said Walker. “This could be a high-powered offense. We can put up five runs in an inning without blanking and just trying to trust that. Whether it happens or not, that headspace is the best for us and we just got to rely on each other and trust that we can score runs at any moment.”
It was Walker who broke the seal for the Diamondbacks in that first inning against Marlins right-hander Sixto Sánchez, a pitcher with noted first inning issues. He sliced a line drive into the right field corner, scoring Corbin Carroll from second. He later scored on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. double off the center field wall. It was those two first inning runs that allowed the Diamondbacks to relax and play downhill the rest of the game despite only scoring three runs.
For this game, 31,966 fans showed up with 20,000 receiving a replica red Diamondbacks jersey as a giveawayp as part of the weekend’s promotions. It gave the appearance of a sea of red at Chase Field.
A very healthy sized crowd at Chase Filed tonight. pic.twitter.com/DtOdk7qWjJ
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 26, 2024
“You know, this is what’s cool about being home,” said Walker. “You know, you lean on this home-field advantage and, you know, for me this is what home-field advantage is. It’s having the crowd on your side, having the momentum, and I think it gives a little bit of energy that you want to feed off of.”
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
