Record 5-4. Change on 2025: +0.5. 5-inning record: 2-7.
Whenever a pitcher is leaving the mound with a trainer after having hit two batters and walked a third, while showing sharply lower velocity… Yeah, it’s never a good thing. Such was the situation this afternoon in Tempe for Brandyn Garcia. His fifth inning appearance was sharply curtailed, and the worst was feared. Not least because, if he went down, the only left-handed reliever left on the D-backs’ 40-man roster would be Philip Abner, and the non-roster invitees wouldn’t help much either [there’s only three, and Yu-Min Lin is already reassigned] However, it appears to have been just a stomach bug for Garcia, rather than looming Tommy John surgery. Phew.
While we make our way back from the SnakePit Fainting Couch, the D-backs notched their third consecutive win, though as has become a habit this year, it required a late comeback. A five-run eighth inning proved key, with a three-run homer by Yassel Soler the big hit. Later in the inning, Wallace Clark drove in the final run with a single. I think that might be the first hit ever in a D-backs jersey by a player born in the United Kingdom, Clark being a native of London. Arizona’s other runs came on a two-run homer by Luken Baker in the fourth inning, and a Jorge Barrosa triple the next frame. Soler also walked in addition to his home-run: Baker and Aramis Garcia each had two hits.
Mitch Bratt’s start started well, with a 1-2-3 first, but he ended up lifted in the second after allowing two runs, and also gave up a homer in the third inning, after returning. His final line: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The D-backs ended up using ten pitchers again. The other runs came off Paul Sewald – good to see him in mid-season form already – and Jonathan Loasiga, making his Arizona debut. Bryce Jarvis got the save with a clean ninth, and Abner also appeared, loading the bases but escaping without damage thanks to a pair of strikeouts. A good day for home-plate umpire Jonathan Parra: three ABS challenges, but all confirmed his call.
Tomorrow, it’s back to Salt River Fields where the Guardians will be visiting. Michael Soroka gets his second start, with a 1:10 pm first pitch. Several members of the A-bullpen are scheduled to work behind Soroka.
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