Diamondbacks Walk off Giants in the 10th, 3-2

DBacks break a 6 game losing streak

By Jack Sommers Jun 23, 2019, 8:34pm EDT

MLB: San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks

Tim Locastro’s bases loaded walk off single to left just over the glove of third baseman Evan Longoria helped the Diamondbacks finally snapped their 6 game losing streak. It also helped them get that first elusive win of this 9 game home stand, having been swept by the Rockies and losing the first two to the Giants. It was Locastro’s 2nd walk hit this season, the first coming on June 1st against the Mets. It seems every time he is in lineup he does something positive to help the team, and today was no exception as he had two basehits on the day and drove in two of the DBacks three runs.

Tim Locastro gives the @Dbacks a much-needed win on a walk-off! pic.twitter.com/eWc3df2ZmO
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 23, 2019

Merrill Kelly had an excellent rebound from his last outing. He pitched 6 innings , giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, and a homerun. The homer came from the first batter of the 7th inning, Kevin Pillar, who hammered the DBacks all series. That tied the game at two and there was some discussion and debate over whether Kelly should have been allowed to go back out for the 7th, as he was at 99 pitches.

Manager Torey Lovullo said after the game : “Merrill Kelly continued to throw the ball extremely well. It’s one of those situations where I asked him to go out there and get an extra out and it didn’t work out the way we wanted to. But I’m not going to focus on that at all because he was outstanding and paced us all day long on a day we really needed a starting pitcher to step up:”

Kelly has already done that quite a few times this season, and has been a real find for Mike Hazen and the front office.

The bullpen was great today. Andrew Chafin, Yoan Lopez, Greg Holland, and Matt Andriese each pitched one inning without allowing a baserunner to shut down the Giants offense over the last four innings.

Giants Rookie Shaun Anderson also pitched a very good game, going 6 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits , a walk and 2 strikeouts.

There was a moment in the bottom of the 7th where it seemed like the Diamondbacks were going to be Snakebit and were destined to lose the game. Eduardo Escobar lead off with a bloop single to centerfield that Brandon Crawford couldn’t hold on to. Christian Walker, who is 12 for 30, .400 during his current 8 game hit streak, hit a smash over the right fielder’s head but the ball hopped the wall for a ground rule double. Had it not bounced over, Escobar might have scored. Then with Nick Ahmed at the plate, Giants Reliever Reyes Moronta threw a wild pitch that seemingly should have scored Escobar, but the ball hit the backstop and bounced back so sharply to the catcher that he just had to turn around and tag Eduardo, who was out by 10 feet. Ahmed proceeded to ground out. Domingo Leyba came in to pinch hit, and hit a very long and loud foul down the line into the Giants bullpen, but it was foul, and then a few pitches later he struck out.

It seemed like a wrong button pushed by Torey in the top of the 7th, and the bad luck and execution in the bottom of the inning were going to be the epitaph for the Dbacks season. Instead, The Rockies, Phillies, Padres, and Nationals all lost. Once again the DBacks find themselves just 2.5 Games back in the Wild Card with only three teams ahead of them. Will they will live to fight another day, a week , a month , or however long, and stay Mike Hazen’s hand from a trade deadline selloff ? We shall see

It doesn’t get any easier, as they start a three game series with the Dodgers tomorrow night at 6:40. You won’t want to miss this one, as it will be Clayton Kershaw facing off against Zack Greinke