Geraldo Perdomo’s ninth inning sacrifice fly completed a gritty, come-from-behind win for the Diamondbacks, taking down the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 at Chase Field. Trailing by two with two outs in the eighth inning, they found a way to tie the game and later put themselves in position to win the following inning.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talked about the win as part of the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV.
“That was another gritty win. That’s how we do it, that’s how we prepare to do it, that’s how sometimes we expect to do it. We didn’t shut down. We had some really frustrating moments where we were playing good baseball. We gave up a lead, we had some runners in scoring position with two outs and couldn’t get that big hit. We just stayed with it.”
The comeback would not have been possible without a stellar effort from right-hander Ryne Nelson. Nelson held the Blue Jays to three runs on five hits, no walks, and five strikeouts in seven innings. Toronto put pressure on the right-hander in his final three innings, but he limited the damage to one run to keep his team in the game.
Nelson was dominant with his four-seam fastball, with 73 of his 98 pitches on the night. It was a very effective pitch, averaging a season-high 96.0 MPH, as he landed 13 called strikes and eight whiffs.
With an exhausted bullpen missing most of their top relievers, the right-hander pitched deep into the game, making it easier for Lovullo to manage the bullpen. Despite the lack of run support when he was on the mound, it allowed the Diamondbacks to come back into the game.
“On a night we were a little bit thin with our main backend guys in the bullpen, Nelly dialed it up and gave us seven real good innings,” said Lovullo. “I pre-determined before the game that if he was in a position to give us a little bit more that I was going to allow him to. We ended up winning this game because of what Ryne Nelson was able to give us.”
Arizona scored first of Yariel Rodriguez in the third inning. Kevin Newman doubled with one out in the inning, then scored on a Carroll single. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with two outs, but Perdomo was rung up on a full-count slider. Newman tacked on a sacrifice fly in the fourth to push the lead to two.
That’s when the Blue Jays started to get to Nelson. In each of the next four innings, Toronto manufactured a run after an extra-base hit put a runner at third with less than two outs. However, the Diamondbacks pitchers limited the damage to just one run each inning, keeping the team in the game if they could get that one big hit.
That one big hit came in the eighth inning. Walks to Perdomo and Eugenio Suárez with two outs put the tying runs on base, and a wild pitch moved both runners up in scoring position for Thomas. Thomas got a center-cut fastball from Trevor Richards and sliced a line drive that hopped in front of Blue Jays left fielder Daulton Varsho to score both and tie the game.
“I watched team at-bats take over, we drew a couple walks, we advanced on passed balls, wild pitches, stole bases,” said Lovullo. “The key for me was setting up A.T.’s base hit that tied the score. That was clearly the thing that gave us all the momentum, put us right back in the game, quality at-bat, but it was set by back-to-back walks by Perdomo and Suárez. That’s the type of team at-bat I was talking about.”
Lovullo then summoned Justin Martinez out of the bullpen for the ninth. Martinez retired the side in order, including a strikeout of Varsho, to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
For the second straight inning, walks jumpstarted the Diamondbacks offense. Walks to Carroll and Ketel Marte put two runners on with one out. A successful double steal, with Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk electing to hold the ball, moved the winning run to third. An intentional walk to Christian Walker loaded the bases. Perdomo swung at a first-pitch center-cut fastball and lifted a fly ball deep enough to left field, with Varsho’s throw off line to home plate.
“Chad Green throws a lot of fastballs middle up,” said Perdomo. “So I was ready to
With the win, the Diamondbacks are over .500 for the first time since April 5. It had been 88 games since the last time they were over that mark. Arizona will send rookie right-hander Yilber Diaz (0-0, 1.50 ERA) for his second career start against Toronto right-hander José BerrÃos (8-6, 3.76 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field is scheduled for 7:10 P.M. MST.
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
