The Diamondbacks had their chance to keep the momentum rolling after yesterday’s wild comeback, but Monday night turned into a flat one in the worst possible spot. Arizona managed only one real burst at the plate, watched Kevin Ginkel unravel in a hurry, and fell to the Athletics despite Nolan Arenado reaching a major milestone with his 2,000th career hit.
Ketel Marte supplied the lone punch for Arizona offense, launching a two-run homer in the sixth to briefly tie the game at 2-2. That was about it.
The D-backs couldn’t build on it, and when Ginkel entered later, the game flipped fast. A bad outing from one of Arizona’s most dependable relievers opened the door for Oakland to seize control for good.
The night started with Mitch Bratt, who was making only his third big-league appearance and gave Arizona a workable effort under the circumstances. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk, and struck out four.
Both Athletics homers came on the first pitch of an inning - one in the second and another leading off the fifth - but neither was a backbreaker on its own. Bratt threw 84 pitches, the most he had logged this year at any level, so the hook in the fifth made sense with the game still hanging around.
The bigger issue was that Jeffrey Springs had Arizona bottled up for most of the night. The D-backs entered the game with a chance to attack a pitcher who had allowed the most home runs in the majors, but that matchup never really materialized.
Through five innings, Springs had faced just two hitters over the minimum. Arizona had only three hits and a walk against him, and two of those baserunners were wiped out by a caught stealing and a double play.
One of the stranger sequences came with Geraldo Perdomo, who was first called out on a pickoff by umpire Hunter Wendelstedt even though replay showed no tag was applied. Perdomo survived that ruling on appeal, only to get thrown out trying to steal second later. Then there was Nolan Arenado, who entered the game with 1,999 hits and doubled down the left-field line in his next at-bat to hit the 2,000 mark.
Arizona finally cracked Springs in the sixth. Jorge Barrosa doubled to start the inning, Marte followed with his 18th homer of the season, and Perdomo added another single.
Gabriel Moreno then walked as Perdomo stole second and moved to third on a bad throw by the Athletics catcher, but a delayed ABS appeal turned the walk into strike 3, shifting the inning from a chance to keep pressing into a man on third with two outs. Ildemaro Vargas lined out, and the game stayed tied.
Then came the inning that broke it open. Ginkel got into trouble, nearly escaped, and then watched the whole thing turn against him.
A comebacker hit him, and he still threw to first in time for what looked like the final out. But another appeal overturned that call, the bases were loaded, and Oakland cashed in with a bloop single and a wild pitch to turn a possible scoreless frame into a three-run burst and a 5-2 lead.
That was enough to take the air out of Arizona’s night. The D-backs did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but they never came close to erasing the deficit. Ryan Waldschmidt’s homer drought stretched to 38 games to begin his MLB career, still well short of the team mark held by Jose Herrera, who did not homer until his 127th game.
Arizona’s staff allowed 15 hits overall, though there were scoreless relief outings from Juan Burgos, Jonathan Loaisiga and Brandyn Garcia. Perdomo finished with two hits, and Barrosa added a double and a walk. Even with the loss, the D-backs didn’t lose ground in the wild-card race because the Marlins, Cardinals, Pirates and Padres all lost too, leaving Arizona one-half game back of the third spot.
Still, this was a missed chance against a team the D-backs should have been able to handle after the emotional high of the previous night. Instead, they got the kind of Monday that lingers.
Tomorrow night brings another young arm for Arizona, with Kade Stroud set for his MLB debut and a 6:40 p.m. first pitch.
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