Grit Index: Hill, D-backs beat Padres in extras

The Arizona Diamondbacks played their 20th extra-inning game on Tuesday night and overcame two blown saves en route to a 10-9 walk-off win over the San Diego Padres at Chase Field.

Aaron Hill recorded his eighth career walk-off hit in his 10th career walk-off plate appearance to give Arizona the win.

Hill also aided the relievers after they blew their major league-leading 26th save and second of the night in the ninth inning. Hill drove in Adam Eaton for the win after Eaton and Paul Goldschmidt hit consecutive singles to start the 10th.

Arizona starter David Holmberg made his major league debut and allowed three earned runs on six hits with three walks and no strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Holmberg threw 80 total pitches and only 46 of them for strikes.

Despite Holmberg’s short outing, long reliever Josh Collmenter came in to pick up the slack and pitched a solid 3.1 innings, allowing one hit and recording four strikeouts.

The D-backs took a 7-3 lead into the eighth, but couldn’t hold on. Relievers Chaz Roe, Joe Thatcher, Will Harris and Brad Ziegler pitching the eighth and ninth innings, giving up a combined seven hits and six runs. Heath Bell wrapped up a scoreless 10th, going 1-2-3 to end the inning.

Padres’ starter Ian Kennedy was not sharp in his return to Chase Field to face his former club, lasting just 4.1 innings. He surrendered six earned runs on six hits while walking five. Kennedy was acquired by San Diego on July 31 after spending 3 1/2 seasons with Arizona.

The Good:

The Diamondbacks are now 8-2 in their last 10 home games and are 15-5 in extra-inning games.

Tuesday night marked their 29th win in their last at-bat, their 11th walk-off win and they now have 38 come-from-behind wins on the season.

The Bad:

The Diamondbacks bullpen leads the majors with 26 blown saves on the year.

Noted:

– Collmenter now owns a 0.57 ERA, allowing one earned run in 15.2 innings pitched in his last six games.

– Gerardo Parra had a career-high five RBI Tuesday and has recorded eight RBI in his last three games.

– Martin Prado has 71 RBI on the season, that’s a new career-high. His 30 RBI are the most by a D-back in August.

He Said It

“Well, we didn’t play a very good game to be honest with you but we were fortunate to win it,” D-backs’ manager Kirk Gibson said. “Our bullpen obviously had trouble but you’re seeing some of the residual effect of all the extra-inning games.

“Those guys are pitching their hearts out. We got through it, they just kept battling. It’s amazing. It’s a good sign and we’ll have to regroup for [Wednesday night].”

Up Next:

The Diamondbacks go for the three-game series sweep of the Padres on Wednesday at Chase Field. Southpaw Wade Miley will get the call for Arizona. He is 9-8 on the season with a 3.60 ERA, but 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA in his last six starts and 5-1 in his last 10. The left-hander has made three starts against San Diego this season but is 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA against the Padres in those games.

As for San Diego, lefty Robbie Erlin will take the spot of Edinson Volquez for Wednesday’s start. The 22-year-old is 1-2 in six games, including four starts with the Padres. His most recent start came on July 7 against the Nationals. Erlin was 8-3 with a 5.07 ERA in 20 starts with Triple-A Tucson this season.

First pitch on Wednesday is slated for 6:40 p.m. and can be heard on Arizona Sports 620.

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