D-backs’ Seth Beer hits walk-off home run to beat Padres on Opening Day
Apr 7, 2022, 10:15 PM | Updated: Apr 8, 2022, 7:34 am
Seth Beer #28 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrates after hitting a walk-off three-run home run against the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning of the MLB opening day game at Chase Field on April 07, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 4-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks are 1-0.
Designated hitter Seth Beer, in his sixth MLB game, belted a walk-off three-run home run in the ninth inning to give the D-backs a 4-2 Opening Day victory against the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
BEER! #walkoff pic.twitter.com/aD4tEfjOex
— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2022
San Diego led 2-0 entering the ninth inning and brought in Robert Suarez to get the save in his MLB debut. Suarez walked his first two batters and hit catcher Carson Kelly with a pitch to load the bases.
Manager Bob Melvin replaced him with Craig Stammen, who came in and threw a wild pitch to put the game-tying run on third base with a 2-1 lead.
Beer smacked a breaking ball over the fence in right field to give Arizona its first Opening Day win since 2018. The 25-year-old is the second rookie in MLB history to hit a walk-off home run in his team’s season opener, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Seth Beer walks it off for the #Dbacks with a 3-run homer.
D-backs win 4-2 on #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/sbRHuvnqgD
— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) April 8, 2022
Arizona won the game with only three hits on Thursday, as Padres starter Yu Darvish did not allow a knock through six innings. San Diego turned to the bullpen in the seventh, since Darvish had 92 pitches.
Right fielder Pavin Smith broke the no-hitter bid with a single in the seventh frame, but the Diamondbacks stranded two runners in the inning.
The D-backs opened the 2022 season the same way they finished the 2021 campaign. Infielder Josh VanMeter hit a walk-off home run to close out last year.
Arizona and San Diego match up for Game 2 of the opening series on Friday at 6:40 p.m. Merrill Kelly will take the hill for the D-backs at Chase Field.
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