ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Sedona Red Recap: D-backs walk-off again, Herrmann the hero

Jun 27, 2017, 11:35 PM

Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Herrmann, middle, is picked up off the ground by teammates Jeff Mathis ...

Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Herrmann, middle, is picked up off the ground by teammates Jeff Mathis (2) and Daniel Descalso, right, as they celebrate a walk-off single against the St. Louis Cardinals with teammates during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks defeated the Cardinals 6-5. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t deserve to win on Tuesday.

But they did.

Go ahead and add another chapter to what has already been a remarkable story here in 2017.

With one out in the 10th inning, Chris Herrmann singled in the game-winning run to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 and claim a series-opening victory in front of 24,256 at Chase Field.

It was Herrmann’s third career walk-off hit and second this season. He squared up a 3-2 fastball from Matt Bowman (1-3) into center field.

Fernando Rodney (2-2) earned the win.

The D-backs scored twice in the eighth and once in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 deficit and force extra innings, where the D-backs are now 7-1 on the season.

David Peralta’s leadoff home run tied the game at 5.

Prior to the late-inning heroics, it did not look good for the D-backs.

Three errors, nine men left on base plus eight failed opportunities with runners in scoring position had put the D-backs in the hole.

Making his first career start against the Cardinals, Taijuan Walker pitched into the seventh inning. He allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits with five walks, two intentional, and no strikeouts. It wasn’t pretty, but the effort goes down as a quality start, his fifth straight.

Carlos Martinez, too, recorded a quality outing. He blanked the D-backs through five innings. He went six having given up two runs on four hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

The Diamondbacks have won four straight, 13 of 15 and 16 of 19; plus they are 16-2 in their last 18 home games.

THE GOOD
It wasn’t until the third time through the order that the D-backs finally solved Martinez. Jake Lamb and Daniel Descalso each walked, and then with two outs, Chris Iannetta doubled off the center field wall to tie the game at 2. Over Iannetta’s last 17 games, 14 of his 15 hits have gone for extra bases.

A double in the fourth and single in the eighth gave Descalso his fourth straight multi-hit game. That’s a new career high. The single to right field plated Lamb to pull the D-backs to within, 5-3. Descalso is now batting .529 (9-for-17) over his past four games and .382 (13-for-34) over his past eight.

Six times now—the last coming on May 31 before Tuesday—Lamb has recorded three hits in a game. He singled in his first at-bat and then in back-to-back plate appearances in the eighth and ninth innings. Lamb, who finished 3 -for-4, is now batting .316 (50-for-158) with 39 RBI in his last 42 games.

THE BAD
Four batters (17 total pitches) into the game and the Cardinals had a 1-0 advantage. A leadoff walk and base hit preceded Jedd Gyorko’s one-out, run-scoring groundout. It was his 36th RBI of the season, snapping a tie with Dexter Fowler for second-most on the team. Fowler is currently on the disabled list.

Two on and no outs in the second; two on and two outs in the third; followed by a one-out double in the fourth inning. In all three situations, the D-backs came up empty with a clutch at-bat, going a combined 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. They stranded a total of five runners, three in scoring position.

Through five innings, Martinez had recorded eight strikeouts, doubling his total from his previous start (four at Philadelphia). Three times he struck out a pair; the first, fourth and fifth innings. And twice—once swinging—he fanned Peralta, who entered 2-for-10 lifetime against Martinez.

Back-to-back walks to open the sixth inning proved costly for Walker. An intentional walk to Randal Grichuck two batters later loaded the bases with one out. That brought Paul DeJong to the plate and he lifted a fly ball to right field, deep enough to plate Piscotty, who beat the throw home, for a 2-0 advantage.

Three D-backs’ errors in the seventh inning contributed greatly to the three runs scored to put the Cardinals ahead, 5-2. Iannetta, Walker and Nick Ahmed were the guilty parties. All were throwing errors; the latter allowed Tommy Pham to touch home plate after a Yadier Molina single to left field.

STAT OF THE GAME
5: The D-backs improved to 5-25 when trailing after seven innings

STAT OF THE SEASON, part I
17: The D-backs improved to 17-7 in one-run games with eight of those wins coming in June

STAT OF THE SEASON, part II
28: The D-backs have now recorded 28 comeback wins, including five walk-off victories

HE SAID IT
“Pretty exciting game for all of us,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “This team never shuts down. They fight until the final out and that was evident again tonight.”

NOTED
Walker threw a first-pitch strike to 21-of-32 batters faced; plus, he reached a 3-ball count six times

Rodney ran his scoreless streak to 19 straight games and hitless streak to a career-best 10 straight

Paul Goldschmidt has reached base safely in a franchise-record 42 straight games at Chase Field

Chris Owings struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, ending a career-best 12-game hitting streak

With a first-pitch temperature of 109 degrees, the game was played with the roof and panels closed

Arizona Coyotes draft pick (No. 23 overall) Pierre-Olivier Joseph threw out the ceremonial first pitch

UP NEXT
A pair of right-handers, Zack Godley and Adam Wainwright, take the mound in game two of the three-game series on Wednesday, June 28. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

Godley (3-1) is making is 10th start. In each of his previous nine outings, the 27-year-old has not allowed more than three runs, which includes most recently a seven-inning effort that saw him limit the Rockies in Colorado to three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in a 10-3 win.

This will be Godley’s first career appearance against the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, Wainwright (7-5) will be looking to improve upon a road ERA that reads 30.38 (18 ER in 5.1 IP) after visits to Cincinnati and Baltimore.

He’s winless over his last two outings overall.

Wainwright, in his 13 seasons, is 7-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 13 games, including 10 starts, lifetime facing the D-backs.

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Sedona Red Recap: D-backs walk-off again, Herrmann the hero