Diamondbacks 4, Blue Jays 3: Willie Walks-off Wednesday Win

Record: 70-68. Pace: 82-80. Change: +2.

Oh, this game was not promising early on. Randall Delgado looked at Wade Miley's struggles last night and figured, "Hey, I can do better than that." Jose Reyes did his part to help out, starting the game with a single for the Blue Jays, and Edwin Encarnacion brought him in to score with a one-out double. Delgado got a second out, but then gave up a home run to Rajai Davis to make it 3-0 Blue Jays before the Diamondbacks were even at the plate.

(Next time Edwin Encarnacion comes to Arizona, someone tell him it isn't Whacking Day anymore and he doesn't have to beat up every snake he sees- 5 for 10 against the Diamondbacks this trip with two walks, two doubles, two home runs, four runs, and four RBIs. I will not miss that guy.)

The Diamondbacks started to fight back in the second. Martin Prado reached safely to start the inning on a fielding error from Encarnacion- about time something went our way when he was involved. Prado turned on the afterburners on a one out double from Matt Davidson, scoring from first, and Davidson came in on a double from Miguel Montero. Miggy took third on a ground out from Gerardo Parra, but couldn't score as Randall Delgado grounded out to end the inning.

It was hard to feel too upset with Delgado for grounding out, though, because while he may not have helped his cause at the plate, he had suddenly locked it down on the mound. After Davis's home run in the first, Delgado tore through the Toronto lineup, going 1-2-3 up and down the order, and not allowing another base runner until Reyes singled to start off the sixth inning. Delgado got the next batter, Ryan Goins, to ground into a double play, and kept the game close. By the time he was done, he'd pitched seven innings, only allowed four hits, and struck out six.

The Diamondbacks offense wasn't doing much more, though. Runners at first and second with one out in the third inning was wasted, a single in the fifth turned into an inning ending double play. That changed in the seventh inning, though. Matt Davidson started the inning with a walk before getting replaced by Tony Campana as a pinch runner. A one out single from Gerardo Parra put runners at the corner, which signalled the end of Mark Buehrle's start. He was replaced by Sergio Santos, and Eric Chavez was sent in to pinch hit for Delgado. Chavez lofted a fly ball to right field, and Campana slid in ahead of the throw to tie up the game. Parra did his best to get a lead, stealing second and taking third on a wild pitch, but was stranded at third by an A.J. Pollock swinging strike out. But it was good enough for a tie, and the game was on the shoulders of each team's bullpen.

For Arizona, that was good news. David Hernandez and Brad Ziegler picked up where Delgado had left off, going 1-2-3 through the eighth and ninth inning, respectively. The Diamondbacks couldn't add on in regulation, though. A lead-off single from Willie Bloomquist in the eighth turned into a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play, and the Diamondbacks went down 1-2-3 in the ninth. And so, we were on our way to extra innings.

Get-a-way day. My recap. You aren't surprised, are you?

Toronto tried in the tenth, leading off with a single against Will Harris. But a strike out and a double play later, and it was Arizona's turn at bat in the bottom of the inning. Eric Chavez started things off with a one-out single before getting replaced by Adam Eaton as a pinch runner. Eaton went all the way to third on a single by A.J. Pollock, and then Willie Bloomquist singled to score Eaton, giving Arizona their 13th walk-off win of the season and avoiding the sweep by Toronto.

An interesting turn of events, given how the game started out. Kudos to Delgado for not letting early runs shake him up, and to the bullpen for keeping it up. The Diamondbacks faced the minimum over nine innings from the start of the second inning on.

A pretty quiet thread, as to be expected for a mid-week afternoon game. GuruB took the comments win, and we had visits from CaptainCanuck, Clefo, Dbacks4eva10101, Diamondhacks, Fangdango, Jim McLennan, RobbieFVK, Rockkstarr12, ford.williams.10, hotclaws, kishi, melliemacker, onedotfive, piratedan7, porty99, and shoewizard.

So Arizona avoids the sweep, and we'll head to San Francisco to start a series on Thursday. Enjoy the evening, and let's hope for better results than when the Giants came to visit Arizona.