ATLANTA (AP) — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s thoughts drifted to a different level of baseball as he watched Arizona put together a shocking, seven-run rally in the ninth inning on Thursday.
“I was like a proud dad, right? Just watching a bunch of Little Leaguers go out there and have some fun and get the job done,” he said. “That’s what I can honestly say I felt in the dugout.”
Third baseman Eugenio Suárez completed the D-backs’ comeback, to left field against struggling Braves closer Raisel Iglesias that made it 11-10. Arizona entered the inning trailing 10-4, and when the Braves went ahead by that score in the eighth, ESPN put Atlanta’s win probability at 99.9%.
The Diamondbacks swept the three-game series and won their fourth straight overall.
“You have 27 outs, you have to play 27 outs hard,” Suárez said. “I mean, that ninth inning tells how we play this game today. We’re never gonna give up.”
Suárez began the inning by striking out against Scott Blewett. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a homer, Tim Tawa walked and Alek Thomas also homered to cut the lead to 10-7. When Jose Herrera also walked — prompting Braves manager Brian Snitker to yank Blewett and bring in Iglesias — Suárez felt like he might get another opportunity.
“That was when I say, ‘OK, we might have a chance over here,’” he said. “Because we got Corbin (Carroll), we got (Ketel) Martin and (Geraldo) Perdomo behind him. And I know they’ve had really good at-bats. … And I was right.”
Carroll doubled off Iglesias, who has given up a run in eight of his last 11 appearances, and Marte followed with a run-scoring infield single. Perdomo popped up for the second out, but Ildemaro Vargas extended the game with an RBI single that cut the lead to 10-9, bringing up Suárez.
“All of a sudden, you’ve got Geno, one of our top run producers, in the box with with tying run on base, and he comes through,” Lovullo said. “So it was a magical moment for this team.”
After losing 9 of 10 in late May, the Diamondbacks entered June with a 27-31 record. Thursday’s rally put them back at .500 — still disappointing for a team with playoff aspirations. But Arizona has reason for optimism.
“It’s really cool, just to see how much work and time we put in, in the cage and on the on the field, and for it to show up when it matters is really special,” Thomas said. “And it just shows how much we care and how much we want to win.”
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