D-backs’ Chris Owings ties game in 9th inning with two-out, three-run HR
Apr 2, 2018, 10:39 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2018, 1:39 am
Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Owings (16) high-fives teammate Ketel Marte (4) after hitting a game-tying, 3-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen came into the 2018 season fresh off a 41-save year that tied for the most in the National League. Oh, and he also had a 1.32 ERA.
Jansen, one of the most feared closers in all of baseball, also entered Monday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a three-run cushion in the bottom of the ninth.
All of the momentum on the D-backs’ side was gone. After Arizona fought back to tie the game up at three, its bullpen allowed a run in three straight innings, leaving the score at 6-3 in the ninth.
David Peralta and Ketel Marte would record the first two outs of the inning, leaving Paul Goldschmidt up with the game on the line against Jansen.
On a sixth-pitch at-bat, Goldschmidt walked and A.J. Pollock followed him with his own six-pitch base on balls.
That brought up Chris Owings, who was 0-for-3 on the night. The D-backs were rallying, but they still had a lot of work to do.
Owings did all that work on the first pitch he saw, a cutter over the middle of the strike zone, smashing it way over the left field wall to tie the game up at six and send it to extra innings.
The All-Star Jansen, by the way, was coming off a loss on Friday against the Giants in which he gave up a home run to Joe Panik. In 2017, Jansen gave up five home runs and seven walks all season and now already has two of each after two appearances in 2018.
Under two hours later, Owings’ homer would lead to a D-backs win, as Jeff Mathis hit a walk-off single in the 15th inning.
