Arizona’s Gregor Blanco reacts in the dugout after belting a two-run home run Friday in the Diamondbacks’ 5-4 victory over the Phillies in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA – With two strikes on him in the seventh inning on Friday night, light-hitting Gregor Blanco launched a hanging curveball an estimated 424 feet for a game-tying home run. Asked if he’d ever hit a ball that far, Blanco laughed sheepishly. “When I hit it out of the ballpark,” he joked, “I hit it far.” Blanco’s blast was the latest example of how well things are going for the Diamondbacks these days – and it was just one of many that were evident in a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, their third victory in as many games on this road trip, their fifth in a row overall and their eighth in the past nine games.
There was an RBI single from the offensively limited Jeff Mathis; a smart and aggressive baserunning play to go from first to third by David Peralta; a tough at-bat by Jake Lamb to work a go-ahead sacri-
fice fly; and a general inability to beat themselves, a trait that seems to manifest itself on a nightly basis for the Diamondbacks, who seem to elicit the opposite behavior from other teams.
At the midway point of June, the Phillies are baseball’s worst team, which is no small feat given that there’s no shortage of bad clubs this season, particularly in the National League. There were instances on Friday night that helped explain why.
Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco misplayed a potential double play ball in the fourth, an inning in which the Diamondbacks scored twice. Right-hander Aaron Nola twice got to two strikes against two of the Diamondbacks’ least dangerous hitters, Mathis and Blanco, and was unable to put them away.
And when the Phillies had a prime scoring opportunity in the seventh, they received perhaps the game’s worst at-bat from one of their better hitters, Odubel Herrera, who struck out on three pitches.
But this is how it goes most nights for the Diamondbacks, who are routinely better at baseball – particularly the finer points – than their opponents.
“To be cliché, which is exactly what I’m being, it’s the little things, man,” said reliever Archie Bradley, who contributed a little himself, striking out Howie Kendrick to end a Phillies threat in the seventh. “The stuff you just said. It’s a different guy every night. It’s a different moment. It’s a situation that may never
“When I hit it out of the ballpark, I hit it far.” GREGOR BLANCO DIAMONDBACKS OUTFIELDER, JOKING ABOUT HIS HOME RUN FRIDAY IN PHILADELPHIA
be even written about. But it’s something we’ve done in the third inning or the sixth inning that got us to the point where we can control the game.
“Guys have bought in. You see the reaction. You see the roll we’re on. You see the fun we’re having. We want to keep it going.”
In some ways, Blanco epitomizes what this team has accomplished. For the past month, he has given the Diamondbacks a capable replacement while one of their better hitters, A.J. Pollock, works his way back from injury.
The day after Pollock went down, Blanco addressed his teammates in a meeting, imploring them to “have each other’s back” while Pollock was out, citing his experience with the San Francisco Giants, who managed to overcome several key losses in their World Series-winning seasons.
Rather than sinking in Pollock’s absence, the Diamondbacks have gone an incredible 21-8 since he landed on the disabled list, a stretch in which they have been, literally, the best team in baseball.
“We miss A.J. – I want to make sure that’s a statement that’s loud and clear,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “But in the absence of A.J., we have somebody that has experience in a lot of different areas. He takes relaxed at-bats. He’s a leader. He’s somebody that we’ve been relying on.”