The Diamondbacks had a lead entering the top of the eighth inning, but a meltdown from Ryan Thompson turned a potential win into a 9-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. That came on the heels of them taking the lead the previous half-inning, which hits especially hard.
Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!
It comes as the team’s third straight loss and fourth in their last five games. They’re quickly losing ground in a Wild Card race that’s becoming more difficult for them to stay in due to their current roster’s shortcomings. Fielding a starting rotation that has been anything but consistent, their margin of error to win games has become increasingly thin.
The Diamondbacks opened up the game with a 2-0 lead in the first. Ketel Marte smoked J.P. Sears’ first pitch of the game off the right field wall for a double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and Randal Grichuk doubled to make it 2-0. At that point, it seemed like the game would go well for Arizona, who was 14-0 entering the game when leading by two or more runs at any point during the month of June.
Death, taxes, Randal Grichuk hammering lefties. Early crooked number for the #Dbacks on Grichuk’s 11th double of the year. pic.twitter.com/qPsBUQkkek
— Burn City D-backs Talk🎙️ (@BurnCityDbacks) June 29, 2024
Despite taking the lead, the lineup went quiet for the next four innings. Following a two-out walk to Eugenio Suárez, Sears retired 13 of the next 14 hitters. It wouldn’t be until the sixth that the Diamondbacks put any further offensive pressure on the left-hander.
Slade Cecconi looked outstanding early, striking out six of the first 10 hitters. However, two walks in the third inning came around to score on a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield and a blooper that dropped in shallow right field to tie the game. In the fourth, the A’s took the lead, with back-to-back hits preceding a sacrifice fly.
Despite allowing three runs in four innings, Cecconi’s stuff looked sharp out of the gate. However, he wasn’t able to consistently execute pitches to finish off hitters efficiently, needing 88 pitches to get through four innings. He generated 18 swings and misses in the first three innings, the second highest total by a Diamondbacks starter in the Statcast era. Left-hander Robbie Ray has the franchise’s highest total over that stretch, with 19 on September 30, 2018.
After Cecconi left the game, the bullpen was able to settle downthe game. Kevin Ginkel threw a scoreless inning in the fifth. Justin Martinez ran into a little bit of trouble in the sixth, but worked around his own fielding miscue and a single with a pair of strikeouts. Martinez got the first two hitters in the seventh and was lifted for Thompson, who retired his first batter on an easy ground ball.
With the game settled down again, the Diamondbacks’ offense clawed their way back into the game. Gurriel delivered his second big hit of the game, launching a long home run to left field to tie the game.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. goes upper tank to tie the game!
3-3 game through 6 innings #PinaPower #Dbacks pic.twitter.com/z2qVu3vmyD
— Burn City D-backs Talk🎙️ (@BurnCityDbacks) June 29, 2024
Corbin Carroll drew a walk to lead off the seventh, advancing one base each on a sac bunt and a ground out to second. That set the stage for further heroics from Marte. On a 2-0 count in what seemed like a clear pitch-around situation, A’s reliever Scott Alexander left a pitch out over the plate and Marte shot the ball through the right side of the infield to take a 4-3 lead.
A’s make the mistake of pitching to Ketel Marte with an open base and he makes them pay!
4-3 #Dbacks #VoteKetel pic.twitter.com/W4Jp2IPxns
— Burn City D-backs Talk🎙️ (@BurnCityDbacks) June 29, 2024
With Thompson coming back on the mound, it seemed like the Diamondbacks had a strong of putting this one away. However, that’s not how the game unfolded. Tyler Soderstrom drove an elevated sinker up and over the wall in left field to tie the game. Then the game completely unraveled for the otherwise reliable setup reliever. Thompson struggled to put the ball over the plate and got burned for it as a walk, triple, and a single gave Oakland a 6-4 lead before the inning concluded.
“We were in a lead with our best two relievers still available,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on the televised portion of his postgame media session. “We got beat, we didn’t put the ball on the plate. I think this game was mostly centered around our inability to get big outs at the right time.”
Despite Thompson’s meltdown, the Diamondbacks still put together a rally to tie the game in the eighth. With two outs, Lucas Erceg hit pinch-hitter Jake McCarthy and gave up a single to Suárez to put the tying runs on base for Carroll. That prompted A’s manager Mark Kotsay to summon former Diamondback T.J. McFarland out of the bullpen. After working a full count, McFarland rung up Carroll on a sinker that hit the inside edge of the strike out for Arizona’s last gasp.
Oakland poured it on in the top of the ninth against left-hander Brandon Hughes. Facing a tough part of the lineup with Oakland’s best power bats, Hughes succumbed to the offensive onslaught, surrendering three home runs in a four-batter span that took a close game and turned it into a blowout. The decision to bring in the left-hander was odd to begin with, with Paul Sewald warming in the bullpen and a better matchup against those hitters.
Lovullo confirmed Zac Gallen (5-4, 3.12 ERA) will start Saturday against Oakland in the broadcasted portion of the team’s television broadcast. There will be an impending roster move to activate Gallen from the 15-day injured list, so be sure to stick around for coverage when that move drops. Oakland will counter with left-hander Hogan Harris (1-1, 2.72 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 1:10 P.M. MST. Fans are advised to show up early, as the first 20,000 will receive a Ketel Marte bat flip bobblehead.
