It was another excellent Father’s Day performance for Christian Walker. Walker’s father, Scott, passed away in 2016 at the age of 53, the same number the Diamondbacks’ first baseman wears on his back in every season since. He is 9-for-18 with four home runs on Father’s Day, with at least one in each of the past three seasons, with the .500 batting average ranking third amongst active hitters with at least 15 at-bats.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I get that passion, I wear that emotion on my sleeve, that’s straight from him,” said Walker on the Diamondbacks postgame television broadcast. “That fire, that competitive edge, I don’t know if he taught me that or if that just happened that way. It’s humbling to come out and feel like he’s on my side and helping. It’s exciting to come out for Father’s Day and make it fun for everybody.”
Walker’s big day at the plate blew the game open against the White Sox, collecting three hits and falling a triple short of the cycle in a 12-5 win over Chicago. It was a must-win game for the Diamondbacks, who are the soft portion of their schedule facing teams that are either out or close to out of the playoff picture. They turned in one of their best offensive performances of the season against rookie right-hander Drew Thorpe, with Walker driving in three runs and scoring twice.
The Diamondbacks offense came early and often. The first five hitters reached base, scoring a total of three runs, to set the tone for how the day was going to go for both teams. Landing that early haymaker has been a staple in Arizona’s recent wins, putting up a crooked number in the first, second, or third inning in all 10 of their wins in June. The early offense has had a settling effect on the pitching staff and allowed them to play downhill baseball the rest of the way.
“We felt like we had a good opportunity to take the series today at home,” said Walker. “We have a tough road trip coming up, we wanted to make sure we had some momentum going into it. We felt the pressure to come out and take the series today at home, had a good crowd on our side.”
Their next road trip will be on the East Coast, playing three games each against the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies. The Nationals are ahead of the Diamondbacks in the Wild Card standings and have won eight of their last 10 games. The Phillies boast the best record in the National League and haven’t likely forgotten what happened in the National League Championship Series. With those teams up next on the docket, that’s what made this win against a 19-win White Sox team very important.
Diamondbacks rebound with dominant 12-5 win over White Sox on Father’s Day
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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
