Alcantara’s 10th-inning HR thwarts sweep
D-Backs survive to end 10-game skid against LA
The Diamondbacks came within inches of winning on a play that is about as heart-stopping as any in a baseball game. Instead, they had to settle for a mere walkoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning on Wednesday night.
After Jake McCarthy was cut down trying to steal home with the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Sergio Alcantara connected for a three-run home run in the 10th to give the Diamondbacks a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.
The Diamondbacks did not play the cleanest of games. Second baseman Ketel Marte did not cover first on a bunt in the 10th. They allowed the Dodgers to score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. There were instances in which they failed to advance runners in crucial situations.
But they won, which is something they have not been able to say after a game against the Dodgers in a long time. Of course, the Dodgers did not play four of their best players; Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner and Jus- tin Turner all got the night off a day after the Dodgers clinched the NL West. And they started a pitcher who was making just his fourth career appearance.
But none of that mattered to Dia- mondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, whose team snapped a 10-game losing skid to the Dodgers, whom they had not beat since April.
“I know everybody is talking about, ‘It wasn’t their starters,’” Lovullo said. “I don’t care. We won a baseball game. That’ll push us into the next day and I want us to feel good about it.”
With two out in the ninth, McCarthy nearly ended the game. Taking his lead off third, he said he noticed Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes lob the ball back to the mound, not throw it firmly, after the first pitch to Corbin Carroll. He decided to risk it on the next pitch.
After Carroll swung a pitch from reliever Evan Phillips, Barnes again lobbed it back to the mound. But Phillips caught it, quickly flipped a throw back to the plate and Barnes put the tag on McCarthy on a close play. McCarthy was called out.
“I wish it would have been a more extended lead,” said McCarthy, who was
maybe 10 feet off the third base bag when Barnes started his throw. “Maybe I could have gotten in there.”
The Diamondbacks’ young roster had been looking forward to this series against the Dodgers. They had to settle for just one win in three days. There were some bright spots.
Right-hander Ryne Nelson overpowered the Dodgers lineup in the first game of the series, the second start of Nelson’s career.
Carroll, another rookie, played a fantastic game on Wednesday, his only action of the series. He made three impressive catches in left field, perhaps taking extra-base hits away from the Dodgers with each. He also smacked a low liner of a home run to right field in the second inning, a ball that shot off his bat at 107.1 mph.
And then there was Alcantara’s homer in the 10th, which came at a time when the Diamondbacks appeared to be dead in the water. Marte had failed to cover first on a sac bunt attempt in the top of the inning, costing them an out, and the Dodgers had moved in front on a wild pitch by reliever Reyes Moronta.
Then after Carroll led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, both runners — Carroll and the automatic runner, Marte — were still on base with two out when Alcantara, who entered the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement, came to the plate to face Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel.
Alcantara jumped ahead 2-1, then got a 96 mph fastball at the top of the zone and turned on it, launching it out to right field.
“I was just trying to make contact,” Alcantara said, speaking through interpreter Alex Arpiza. “I never thought I would hit a home run. I was just trying to get a hit and get those two runs in any way I could.”
Said Lovullo: “They’ve had their way with us pretty much all season long, and for us to not shut down in the situation with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to win a baseball game with a big hit speaks volumes about how we’re able to slow things down and execute at a high level in the most critical moment.
“We didn’t play a perfect game. … (But) I want us to enjoy this win. We did enough to win the baseball game.”