Arizona Diamondbacks 4, Houston Astros 3: Pollock stays hot, answers Astros rally back with a walk-off

Record: 22-11. Pace: 108-54. Change on 2017: +4.

Zach Grienke got the start in Saturday night’s game against the Houston Astros, who had right handed pitcher Charlie Morton get the start for them.

The Diamondbacks got on the board early in the first inning by taking advantage of Morton’s control problems. Morton walked Peralta, Descalso, and Goldschmidt to lead off the game, and Pollock hit a sac fly to bring Peralta home, giving the Dbacks an early one run lead. The Dbacks would tack on another with a solo homer in the second, putting the Dbacks up 2-0.

Meanwhile, Zach Grienke would be solid through the first four innings, keeping the Astros off the board until the top of the fifth, when he gave up a solo homer to George Springer to make the score 2-1. Grienke would answer back immediately in the bottom of the fifth by hitting a double to help his own cause. David Peralta would single to drive Grienke home, putting the Dbacks up 3-1, but would be thrown out trying to advance to second. The next batter, Daniel Descalso would be hit by a pitch, but Goldschmidt struck out swinging, and Pollock would ground out to end the threat.

After getting two outs in the sixth inning, Grieke would be taken out of the game for Andrew Chafin, who proceeded to walk two batters, and failed to get any outs. Bradley would have to come in and get final out of the sixth inning, and would pitch a perfect seventh inning as well.

Yoshi Hirano would run into trouble in the eighth inning. Hirano would get Yuli Gurriel out on a groundout, but would walk Josh Reddick, and Brian McCann would hit a double driving him home, making the score 3-2 Diamondbacks. McCann would be taken out for a pinch-runner, Jake Marisnick. After a mound visit, Hirano would walk Marwin Gonzalez, putting runners on first and second. Derek Fisher would pinch hit for reliever Joe Smith, and would double, driving Jake Marisnick home, tying the game up at 3-3.

Hector Rondon would pitch the bottom of the eighth inning for Houston, and would get Steven Souza Jr on a line out, Ketel Marte on a fly out, and would strike out Nick Ahmed.

Brad Boxberger would pitch the ninth for the Dbacks, and would quietly set down Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Yuli Gurriel.

Chris Devenski would replace Hector Rondon for Houston, pitching the ninth. Jeff Mathis lead off the inning with a single, and would be taken out of the game for pinch runner Jarrod Dyson. Deven Marrero would ground bunt into a fielder’s choice, and Dyson would be out at second and Marrero would be safe at first. Marrero would steal second, somewhat redeeming himself, but David Peralta would strike out for the second out of the inning. Devenski would lose all control of the ball, and would walk Chris Owings and Paul Goldschmidt, loading the bases. A.J. Pollock would come up to bat with the bases loaded with two outs, and would single on the first pitch, sending Marrero home to score the winning run.

570 comments, from 28 people who sensibly decided not to risk going out on Cinco de Mayo. They were: AZDovs11, AzRattler, BobDolio, CumulusChoir, DORRITO, DeadManG, Diamondhacks, Fangdango, GuruB, JTyson, Jackwriter, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, Wesley Baier, aldma, asteroid, coldblueAZ, gamepass, hotclaws, nolanriley13, onedotfive, shoewizard, smartplays and suroeste. Comment of the night to Diamondhacks:

It was a very smart, and beautifully executed play. Credit also the players who took their walks thereafter, to load the bases for Pollock’s dagger. With the Dodgers losing to the Padres, this put the D-backs back to seven in front of them, and also maintains our lead over the Rockies and Giants, who both won. The victory sets up a rubber game tomorrow, in which Matt Koch will seek to lead the charge for another giant killing, the D-backs having prevailed in a Clayton Kershaw start the last time Koch pitched. Here’s to more of the same on Sunday afternoon, and a winning end to Hell Week!