Late miscues doom D-backs in loss to Brewers

The Arizona Diamondbacks led Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers from the top of the first until a tumultuous bottom of the seventh.

The Brewers put up four runs to overtake Arizona, and they held on for a 7-5 win.

The D-backs squandered a chance to earn another series win, and it was the defense that faltered and opened the door for a big inning.

With one on and no outs in the seventh, Brewers RF Blake Perkins — a Verrado High School alum — tapped a slow chopper to second base. Ketel Marte fielded it, looked to first, looked to second for lead runner and then threw to first.

Perkins raced out of the box and beat the throw with Marte indecisive.

Brewers CF Joey Wiemer then hit a sharp grounder up the middle that deflected off reliever Austin Adams’ glove. Marte made a sliding stop to his backhand and flipped the ball to second, but he did not have time to get Perkins who slid in safely.

The bases were loaded with no outs after a walk and two ground balls. The score was 5-3.

Kyle Nelson entered to face Christian Yelich, who hit a soft tapper for a 1-3 putout and an RBI. Pinch hitter William Contreras came up and doubled on a hanging slider to drive in the game-tying and go-ahead runs. Contreras scored on a fielder’s choice to add to the lead.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “We just didn’t execute at the most critical time.”

The D-backs were shut down by the back end of the Brewers bullpen, with 2022 All-Star Devin Williams picking up the save.

Marte had himself a day offensively with three hits including a three-run homer to put Arizona up 4-0. He, ironically, grounded into a double play to end the game, though.

The D-backs dropped to 44-30 with the loss.

Ryne Nelson started for Arizona and kept the lead intact with five innings and three earned runs. Nelson struck out six batters and did not surrender a walk.

His largest blemish came on a 3-2 fastball that Jesse Winker shot over the wall in center field for a two-run shot in the fourth. That cut the Arizona lead to 4-3.

Jake McCarthy’s two-out RBI infield single extended Arizona’s lead to 5-3 in the sixth before Milwaukee rallied.

“We won that game because of Blake Perkins,” Winker said. “That’s just kind of what it takes. Him beating out his hit and then beating out Wiemer’s hit, it just changes the whole game.”

Up next

The rubber match on Wednesday will begin at 11:10 a.m.

Zac Gallen will pitch for Arizona against Brewers RHP Julio Teheran. Gallen has a 2.97 ERA over his last five starts.

Catch the game on ESPN 620 AM / 98.7 FM HD-2. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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