The Diamondbacks dropped the second game of the series to the Mets 10-9. Jordan Montgomery dug a hole too deep for the Diamondbacks offense to climb out of, but there were positive signs from this game. Arizona belted nine hits, including three home runs, and matched the total amount of runs they scored over the past six games combined.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“It is pretty frustrating, but it’s a reminder of how good we can be and how fast it can turn,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “You never know where that rally is going to start, you don’t want to give away at-bats or outs. With the the type player we have, things can change quickly. We played catch-up in the ninth, but there was too much damage to overcome. We couldn’t combined an offensive game with a well-pitched game.”
Scoring no more than three runs in each of their past five games, the Diamondbacks plated three runs in the first inning. Corbin Carroll singled and Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Joc Pederson. Pederson ripped a single to right to put the Diamondbacks on the board. After a stolen base, Lourdes Gurriel added another single and Jake McCarthy reached on a fielder’s choice out at second to make it a three-run inning.
For any good feelings generated from the top of the first, they were gone by the end of the first. Montgomery loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a single, then gave up a bases-clearing triple to Starling Marte. A swinging bunt made it 4-3, putting the Diamondbacks behind before the end of the first.
After getting struck by the big inning in the first, the Mets put another crooked number on Montgomery in the fourth. After a leadoff walk to Tomas Nido, Pete Alonso drove in the first run of the inning on a double. It looked like Montgomery would escape with just the one run, but Kevin Newman was unable to corral a ground ball from J.D. Martinez. The inning snowballed from there, as back-to-back singles put the Mets up 8-4. Montgomery finished with eight runs (six earned) on nine hits, three walks, and four strikeouts in four innings.
“Looked like he was spraying his fastball around,” said Lovullo. “He couldn’t get the changeup down, the breaking ball was a little inconsistent. It looked like to me he was missing arm-side with it. It was just a grind for him, no doubt about it. I know what he’s built on, he wants to go out and win a baseball game, especially when we’re grinding the way we are.”
For the first time in a week, there were signs of life from the Diamondbacks offense. Carroll recorded his second multi-hit game in the last three days. Ketel Marte reached base twice on a single and a walk. Eugenio Suárez tacked on a solo home run in the sixth, lifting a fly ball just beyond the right field wall. It marked Suárez’s 250th career home run, and his first since May 8 at Cincinnati.
Logan Allen continued to vacuum innings for the bullpen. He delivered four innings to save the rest of the bullpen but also allowed a two-run home run to J.D. Martinez. Those two tack-on runs proved to be the difference as the Diamondbacks attempted to rally in the ninth.
The Diamondbacks made the game interesting in the ninth. Newman reached on an infield hit, then Carroll walked to put two on with one out to force the Mets to bring in their closer. Reed Garrett then served back-to-back two-out home runs to Pederson and Christian Walker, coming on consecutive pitches, to cut the deficit to one. However, Gurriel was unable to keep the string of quality at-bats going, striking out on five pitches with none of them close to the strike zone.
Arizona will try to carry some offensive momentum into Saturday’s game. They’ll send rookie right-hander Slade Cecconi (1-3, 6.12 ERA) to the mound, while New York goes with left-hander Sean Manaea (3-1, 3.16 ERA). First pitch at Citi Field will be at 1:10 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
