The Diamondbacks’ six-game winning streak was snapped in Tampa Bay, as they were walked off by the Rays 5-4 in Tropicana Field. Arizona’s normally airtight defense came unglued in the final two innings, which came back to bite them late as the Rays scored four runs against their bullpen.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“We didn’t play our typical game today,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo in the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV. “There’s five or six identifiable things that we need to clean up. When we do it right, we’re walking back off the field. When we do it wrong, we give up some runs and it leads to a loss. We will coach up those areas that we saw and we’ve identified, and we’ll come out tomorrow and flush this and be ready to go.”
It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game for the Diamondbacks. The defense made two errors and one additional misplay in the final three innings, they had two runners thrown out on the bases, and there was a four-pitch walk to the No. 9 hitter who was batting .181 on the season. All those moments of poor execution led to a frustrating loss. Lovullo doesn’t want his players to dwell on the loss but will use this game as a teaching moment.
The frustrating part about this uncharacteristic loss was the Diamondbacks came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth off Pete Fairbanks. Trailing by two entering the inning, Eugenio Suárez ripped a line drive to bring the tying run to the plate. Corbin Carroll, down to his final strike crushed a center-cut changeup from Fairbanks deep into the right field seats to tie it 4-4.
Here’s Corbin Carroll’s massive home run. That marked the #Dbacks 20th homer in the 9th inning this season, the most in MLB per the TV broadcast. pic.twitter.com/bHP2bX0KWK
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) August 17, 2024
“We’re a bunch of fighters and we don’t shut down,” said Lovullo. “Down to our last swing and Corbin barrels up a really good pitch off their closer. We’re never out of any game and this team will fight you.”
After tying the game, the Diamondbacks sent out Justin Martinez for a shutdown inning. After punching out José Caballero to open the inning, he walked Jonny DeLuca on four straight pitches. DeLuca entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth and was batting .181 on the season entering that plate appearance. Martinez bounced back to strike out Yandy DÃaz to get the second out of the inning and put Arizona one out closer to extra innings. However, an all-around terrible defensive play sealed the Diamondbacks fate.
Brandon Lowe, who was hitless in his first four at-bats, hit a ground ball back up the middle. Second baseman Blaze Alexander made a dive on it, but could only deflect the ball towards left center. Jake McCarthy scrambled to try to pick up the ball, but came up whiffed on the barehanded attempt and allowed DeLuca to score from first.
The most frustrating part about this loss was they wasted a Ryne Nelson quality start. The right-hander was outstanding once again, holding the Rays to one run in 6 1/3 innings. Nelson allowed just one run on four hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. His lone mistake was leaving a 93 MPH fastball down the middle to Dylan Carlson, who crushed a long home run to right field.
What worked for Nelson once again was fastball command. Once again the four-seamer was front and center, working the edges of the strike zone for called strikes and blowing mid-to-upper-90s velocity by hitters when he challenged him. He was able to effectively use his cutter and changeup to keep the Rays hitters guessing, as they took fastballs on the edge with two strikes. For the second consecutive start, the bullpen cost him a win.
With a rotation decision looming, the young right-hander has made a strong case to remain over struggling left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Nelson has pitched to a 2.73 ERA in his past 56 innings with only three home runs allowed, 11 walks, and 55 strikeouts. In his last eight starts, five of them have been quality starts.
Ryan Thompson’s return to Tampa Bay turned into a disaster, as the Diamondbacks’ eighth-inning reliever surrendered three runs. Thompson inherited a one-run lead with the bases empty but surrendered three straight two-out hits to give the Rays that two-run lead. He was in position to escape the inning, as he was one strike away from putting up a zero. However, a single by Josh Lowe tied the game with the go-ahead run scoring when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. couldn’t glove the ball after it took a funky hop off the turf.
Arizona took a 2-0 lead in the first, capitalizing on a Rays error. Joc Pederson delivered another big hit, singling in Carroll, who reached on an error from Rays third baseman Junior Caminero. Following a double play, Gurriel dropped a ball into shallow left to score McCarthy. The Diamondbacks were unable to capitalize on any additional scoring chances until the ninth inning.
The Diamondbacks will have to shake off this shocking loss, as they can still salvage a potential series win if they can take the final two games in the series. They have their ace, Zac Gallen (9-5, 3.69 ERA) taking the mound. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (0-1, 4.61 ERA) will be making his fourth start for the Rays since coming back from Tommy John surgery. First pitch at Tropicana Field will be at 1:10 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
