Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald has blown both saves on the Diamondbacks road trip. Both times, they took the lead in the top of the ninth on a big home run. Each appearance ended with him getting walked off the field. Asked about his concern level with Sewald by Dbacks TV reporter Todd Walsh, manager Torey Lovullo said “minimal”.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“He’s a pro and he’s going to fight through anything he’s feeling right now, he’ll be fine. He’s been battle-tested, he’s had some unbelievable moments up to this part of the season. He’s a closer, that type of stuff happens.”
Lovullo quickly pointed out the same thing happened to the Padres’ closer earlier in the game, calling Robert Suárez one of the best in the game. Arizona had homered twice against Suárez twice in the top half of the inning, taking an 8-7 lead after entering a 7-2 game.
Entering this road trip, Sewald with a ninth-inning lead meant Game Over for the opponent this season. In his first 17 games pitching with a lead, the Diamondbacks were a perfect 17-0. His lone run allowed up to that point was a low-leverage run that came in his first appearance back from the injured list. In the 17 following appearances, he fired 15 2/3 scoreless innings and held opponents to a .080/.164/.100 slash line with a 14-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
In his first appearance, he struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani in impressive fashion. He’s given up two doubles, a single, a walk, and two home runs to the last six batters faced. The Diamondbacks will need their closer to quickly correct the ship, as they can’t afford too many more games where a ninth-inning lead turns into a loss. With the current state of the starting rotation a big enough issue as is, any closer controversy could prove to be doubly as problematic.
Diamondbacks comeback bid undone by Paul Sewald’s second straight blown save
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
