The Diamondbacks got a tough test from the last-place Rockies but again showed their grit and determination in a 5-4 win over the Rockies. Coming off eight series wins against teams that had playoff aspirations at the end of July, they now had to take on a team with nothing to lose. They were caught off guard early but capitalized when the Rockies gave them opportunities.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“They’re all not going to be easy and they never are,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV. “This is a good baseball team that we’re playing against. They’re hungry, they’re athletic. They jumped out to a lead on us and we didn’t blink. At the right times, our attentiveness, our focus, and our readiness just showed up. It all piled up into a couple of really good plays, a couple of really good at-bats.”
The Diamondbacks lost Ketel Marte after the first inning, as he reaggravated his left ankle injury swinging the bat. He was immediately removed from the game and replaced by Kevin Newman, who played a critical role in the team’s comeback win. Jack Sommers from Arizona Diamondbacks on SI reports that Marte will get an MRI on his left ankle but is currently day-to-day.
“He tried to gut it out today,” said Lovullo. “He said he was still feeling some pain but he was going to try to play. The pregame prep was good enough for us to feel like we could ask him to do it and he continued to say he was ready to go. He took one swing and he felt a little bit of discomfort. It’s just a little reaggravation of the original injury, it’s nothing in the knee, it’s above the ankle and the joint there. He was trying to go back out there but I just told him ‘Look it doesn’t make sense. Let’s get you off the field and get you rested up and recovered up and see where we’re at day-to-day.'”
Brandon Pfaadt’s start was a microcosm of the D-backs game. His location mistakes got punished by the Rockies, but the right-hander kept battling. He got clipped for four runs, but also pitched seven innings and tied a career-high 11 strikeouts. Those extra outs he got ended up paying off for both the team and his personal win-loss record, earning his seventh victory when the offense completed the comeback after throwing his last pitch of the night.
Trailing by three entering the sixth inning, they put enough offensive pressure on Rockies pitching and capitalized on some critical mistakes in the sixth and seventh innings to take the lead. Facing Bradley Blalock, who had their number for the first five innings, they finally got to the rookie right-hander in the sixth. They knocked Blalock from his first career start with back-to-back run-scoring hits from Josh Bell and McCarthy.
Following a shutdown inning by Pfaadt, the Diamondbacks took the lead for good in the seventh. A pair of two-out hits by Corbin Carroll and Kevin Newman put runners on the corners with the middle of the lineup coming up. Joc Pederson hit a pop-up that both Elias Diaz and Ryan McMahon lost track of, extending the at-bat and led to back-to-back wild pitches from reliever Tyler Kinley to score both runners to make it a 5-4 game.
Newman, who scored the decisive run of the game, has been the team’s embodiment of the “Next Man Up” philosophy for much of the season. Now the primary backup at all four spots on the infield, he has been the unsung hero of the season as he’s had to fill in for Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte as they battled injuries. He also made a huge defensive play, turning a slick double play to thwart a potential ninth-inning rally by the Rockies. Even when he doesn’t expect to enter the game, he always finds a way to make winning plays for his team.
“He had a terrific day,” said Lovullo. “He didn’t start the baseball game, but if you talk about adaptability and readiness, he made the most of his opportunity today. A couple of clean base hits and an unbelievable baserunning read at third base on a ball that didn’t get too far away from [Elias] DÃaz. I thought it was him being in the right place and being extremely ready.”
With the lead, the Diamondbacks turned to Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez to close it out. The duo combined to face the minimum through those two innings, with Martinez converting his third straight save opportunity thanks to the aforementioned double play turned by Newman.
The Diamondbacks will have a chance to win their ninth straight series with another win. Left-hander Eduardo RodrÃguez (1-0, 4.76 ERA) will make his second start of the season for Arizona while Colorado counters with left-hander Austin Gomber (3-8, 4.92 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field on Tuesday night will be at 6:40 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
