With a chance to win the series, the Diamondbacks could not solve Cristopher Sánchez in a 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Sánchez blanked Arizona for seven innings, not walking a batter and striking out four.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After slugging three home runs in the team’s series-opening win, the Diamondbacks’ offense got shut down for the rest of the series by Philadelphia pitchers. Arizona mustered only two runs on eight hits in the following two games. They had not drawn a walk in either game.
With no margin for error, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo managed this game like Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. Slade Cecconi surrendered five hits over three innings but held the Phillies to just one run despite traffic on the bases. He took a tough-luck loss when the hitters and the bullpen struggled after he left the game.
The key moment that sealed the Diamondbacks’ loss came in the sixth inning. Justin Martinez retired the first batter of the inning, but completely unraveled. Back-to-back walks, with a lot of wild misses, followed by a balk put two runners in scoring position. Martinez grooved a fastball to David Dahl, who ripped a single to right to plate two runs. With the Diamondbacks struggling to come back in games this season, with a 1-35 record when trailing by two or more runs, that proved too steep a hill to climb.
They made their best effort in the ninth against Jeff Hoffman. Geraldo Perdomo came off the bench and drove a double off the top of the left field wall. Singles by Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. put the Diamondbacks on the board and brought their best home run hitter, Christian Walker, to the plate. Walker rolled over to third base for the final out.
Next Game
The Diamondbacks will return home to host the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics for three games each. They’ll have an off day before taking on the Twins at Chase Field. Brandon Pfaadt (3-6, 4.37 ERA) will start for the Diamondbacks while the Twins have not named a starter yet.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
