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Curiously, we didn't have a ninth-inning walk off at all this year, with all five coming in extra innings, and all but one with the score at the time being 3-3. There also seemed to be a tendency for light-hitting infielders to be the heroes in most of these situations - which makes some sense, because nobody was going to pitch to Paul Goldschmidt. No, seriously: Goldie's on-base percentage in extra-inning games this year was .810. He was 6-for-10 with 11 walks. Yep: he came to the plate 21 times and made four outs. But enough about this year's NL MVP runner-up. On to the walk-offs!
April 10: Ender Inciarte vs. Dodgers
The year's first walk-off came in the bottom of the tenth, the game have ended regulation all tied at three, thanks mostly to Paul Goldschmidt's three-run homer off Brett Anderson. Cliff Pennington worked a one-out walk, then advanced to second on a wild-pitch, and stole third as A.J. Pollock took ball four, to put men on the corners, still with just the one out. That brought up Ender Inciarte...
May 22: Nick Ahmed vs. Cubs
This one should be somewhat familiar, because it's the game that only got this far, because Goldschmidt clubbed a two-run homer, when we were down to our last strike in the bottom of the tenth inning. With the bottom of the order up for Arizona in the thirteenth, this one looked to go longer, but that reckoned without Tuffy Gosewisch, who got a one-out double to be in scoring position for Ahmed. With the catcher running, would a single be enough?
July 3: Cliff Pennington vs. Rockies
The sides got through nine innings here, each having allowed only three runs, all charged to the respective starting pitchers. After Andrew Chafin put up the necessary zero up for the Diamondbacks as extra innings got under way, once again the bottom of the Arizona order came through. Welington Castillo doubled to start things off, and Chris Owings singled through the hole into left-field, which brought up Pennington, needing at least a deep-enough flyball for the catcher to score.
August 9: Chris Owings vs. Reds
Probably the most nerve-wracking walk-off ever, due to the confusion which ended it. With the bases loaded and one out, Owings laced a single to left-center field, and Paul Goldschmidt trotted home from third. Simple, right? Not so fast. Because David Peralta failed to reach third and Jake Lamb never touched second either, before both men joined in the celebrations. Fortunately, the Reds couldn't take advantage, but I think we all learned a valuable lesson!
September 29: Phil Gosselin vs. Rockies
New bod Gosselin got to give a good early impression, notching his first career walk-off in the final week of the season. The Rockies didn't exactly make it difficult for the Diamondbacks here, as Brooke Brown walked Pollock, Goldschmidt and Peralta on a total of 13 pitches. Castillo grounded into a force-out at home, but just as we prepared to bemoan another wasted opportunity, Gosselin showed he was a solid replacement for the master of clutch.