Sedona Red Recap: Drury’s walk-off gives D-backs dramatic home win

PHOENIX – It didn’t take long for the Arizona Diamondbacks to jump all over Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals.

They kicked off the game with back-to-back-to-back home runs by David Peralta, A.J. Pollock, and Jake Lamb, but despite the early lead, it still took some 11th-hour heroics for a win.

Brandon Drury’s walk-off single had the D-backs come out on top by a score of 6-5.

The D-backs’ bats were hot at home to start the game coming off a 12-2 road victory against the Reds.

The three home runs in the bottom of the first to start things off set the tone early against a normally tough Scherzer on the mound. The first inning home runs were Lamb’s 23rd big fly this season, the tenth for Peralta, and Pollock’s fourth.

Jeff Mathis added a RBI single in the first that put Scherzer behind early by a score of 4-0 and to a pitch count of 37 after one inning. Lamb doubled in the second inning, scoring Pollock and increasing the D-backs lead to 5-0 after two.

As the night went on, however, Scherzer got it back on track, not allowing a run for the rest of his night. He went five innings and gave up five earned runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. He struck out the side during his final inning of work.

On the other side of the mound, Zack Godley was making his 13th start this season. Godley confounded the Nationals the first time through the lineup, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning when Bryce Harper doubled and later scored on a Daniel Murphy double.

The Nationals would hang around and add a pair of runs in the fifth inning by way of a Brian Goodwin 1-3 sacrifice and a Ryan Raburn RBI single, but that’s all they would get off of Godley.

Godley went 5.2 innings, giving up five hits and four earned runs after an inherited runner he left on base scored. He struck out ten, which is a career-high, and walked three.

The Nationals continued to battle back and tied the game in the eighth inning with Archie Bradley pitching in relief by way of a pair of doubles and a Wilmer Difo RBI single.

It all came down to the bottom of the ninth inning, where a leadoff triple by Pollock got the ball rolling and eventually lead to the game-winning walk off RBI single by Drury.

THE GOOD 

– The D-backs led off the game with back-to-back-to-back home runs for the first time in franchise history.

– Lamb followed up his six RBI performance against the Reds with a leadoff home run and two RBI on a 2-for-3 night at the plate with two intentional walks.

– Godley’s average of opposing hitters at .201 is fourth among NL starters with ten starts or more.

THE BAD

– The D-backs’ 4-to-9 hitters in the lineup were 4-of-24 tonight with 13 strikeouts. That includes Paul Goldschmidt, who struck out twice.

– Despite starting the night with five hits in their first seven at bats, the D-backs only added four more hits the rest of the game.

– Newly acquired left fielder J.D. Martinez did not play and is still day-to-day with a left hand contusion.

STAT OF THE GAME

.166 – Brandon Drury was 3 for 18 in his last six games and was 0-for-3 heading into his game winning at-bat in the ninth inning.

HE SAID IT

“I was really happy and proud of the way the guys came out and had a great plan against Max Scherzer, arguably one of the best arms in baseball. It’s not something you ever expect, to leadoff the game with three consecutive home runs, but I thought the approach was good and obviously the results were outstanding.” – Torey Lovullo

When asked about what he will say to the team after this win, Lovullo joked, “Let’s go get a cheeseburger.”

NOTED

– The last time D-backs hitters hit three consecutive home runs in a game was August 11, 2010, against the Milwaukee Brewers.

– The D-backs’ home record of 34-15 is the second best in MLB behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

– The D-backs have only committed two errors in their last 13 games.

– Bryce Harper extended his current hitting streak to 14 games, which is a career high.

– Game time temperature was 103 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside of Chase Field.

UP NEXT

Much like their home runs tonight, the D-backs will try to jump ahead in the series with back-to-back wins in game two. Anthony Banda will make his first start of his career for Arizona against Tanner Roark (7-6, 4.98 ERA) for Washington.

Banda is 7-5 with the Reno Aces this season in Triple-A. He has 5.08 ERA and a WHIP of 1.426 in 18 starts with 93 strikeouts and 43 walks.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

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