D-Backs take series against Padres
D-Backs rally late for encouraging end to trip
SAN DIEGO – From April through September, it can be hard to get anyone in baseball to call a game a must-win – at least not until it’s already been won. Even then it can be tough, evidenced by the Diamondbacks’ lack of grand proclamations after their 4-3, come-from-behind win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon.
They’re right, of course. With 37 games remaining, they still very much control their own postseason chances, regardless of what happened Sunday. But it still felt, from the outside, like another game they could not lose. Not so much because of where they are now, as they still sit atop the National League West, but for later, when they descend into the trenches of a challenging September schedule.
The win brought an encouraging end to an otherwise disappointing road trip. They played nine games in three cities against three last-place teams. They won five. When the trip began, they were tied atop the division with the Los Angeles Dodgers. And while they didn’t lose any ground there – they actually picked up two games on the slumping Dodgers – they lost three games to the Colorado Rockies, who are a half-game back and whose warm breath the Diamondbacks can feel on their necks.
Sunday’s win was, in some ways, impressive. Trailing late, they got key home runs from Daniel Descalso and A.J. Pollock in the final two innings, held off the Padres’ offense and came away with their third win in four days at Petco Park.
“I think not so much the record on the road trip, but just coming from behind today, twice,
and kind of stealing a win, I think that’s encouraging,” Descalso said. “We’re going to have to battle against other teams’ bullpens and score off bullpens if we’re going to get into the playoffs and go far. That’s something we’re going to have to do.”
Down 3-2 in the eighth, Descalso swung through a pair of high-90s fastballs up in the zone from Padres reliever Trey Wingenter. Descalso got a third – this one lower in the zone – and launched it over the right-field fence.
An inning later, Pollock did the same, battling through an at-bat against Padres right-hander Kirby Yates before getting a fastball that caught too much plate. Pollock connected for his 16th homer, putting the Diamondbacks ahead for good.
For Pollock, it was his third extrabase hit in two games, an encouraging sign for a player whose bat almost single-handedly carried the Diamondbacks for stretches early in the season but who has been mostly quiet since his return from the disabled list last month.
“You take two months off, it’s essentially starting all over again,” Pollock said, referring to the time he missed with a fractured thumb. “It takes a lot to get back in that rhythm. I feel like I’ve done a decent job. It’s been frustrating because I haven’t quite taken off. I feel like everything is there. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time.”
As it stands, the trip wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It started with a pair of dispiriting losses in Cincinnati, followed by a two-game split in Texas.
“We fly in here and we’re 2-3 coming in here out of Texas,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Nothing against those teams, but we probably had better expectations. You can only imagine one way coming out on the positive side – winning four games. To come close to that and win a series after the start we got off on, I’m really happy for these