The Diamondbacks felt the impact of missing three key players from their lineup due to injury in their series finale loss to the Mets on Thursday. While they had managed to navigate the absences of Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, and Gabriel Moreno in recent games with timely hits from other players, they struggled to generate any offensive momentum in their 3-2 defeat.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The game was marked by home runs. After Pete Alonso homered in the 2nd inning off Ryne Nelson, Randal Grichuk, breaking an 0-for-11 slump, launched a two-run blast in the 3rd inning to give the D-backs a 2-1 lead.
However, aside from Grichuk’s homer, the Diamondbacks’ offense had no answer for Mets starter David Peterson. The Mets have now won the last five games that Peterson has started, as he delivered seven solid innings on Thursday.
Oddly enough, baserunning mistakes proved costly for Arizona. Grichuk was picked off at first base to end the 1st inning, Jake McCarthy was picked off to end the 4th, and Joc Pederson was thrown out at second to end the 8th inning. As a result, the Diamondbacks managed to get just one runner in scoring position all afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Mets tied the game at two with a Francisco Lindor solo shot in the 6th. Nelson exited after 6.1 innings, allowing two earned runs. Though he was not credited with the loss, as the game was tied when he left, Thursday marked just the second time in a nine-game span that the D-backs have lost a game Nelson started.
In the top of the 9th, it was up to Justin Martinez to keep the game tied, but with two outs, Jose Iglesias delivered a base hit to drive in the go-ahead run from second base. Martinez has now allowed at least one run in three of his last four appearances out of the bullpen, bringing his loss total to five this season.
Next up for the Diamondbacks is a crucial four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The D-backs enter the series 3.5 games behind LA in the National League West. To secure the tiebreaker against the Dodgers this season, Arizona will need to win at least two of the four games
