The Arizona Diamondbacks staged a spectacular comeback against the beleaguered bullpen of the Washington Nationals to triumph 10-5 on Tuesday night. The victory moved them ahead of Los Angeles for the NL West lead soon after the game when the Dodgers blew a late lead at Cincinnati. Pavin Smith and Josh Rojas drove in three RBIs each for Arizona, which has now won seven of nine to improve to 36-25.
“We just chipped away,” said Torey Lovullo, the Arizona manager, after his team trailed 4-1 after one inning. “That was my mindset. It was still early. We had a chance to play catch-up if we did what we did best with controlling the zone and trying to get guys on base.”
Washington entered the day with the worst bullpen ERA in the National League at 4.73, and Arizona took full advantage when starter Jake Irvin was pulled after hitting Corbin Carroll to open the fifth inning. Reliever Erasmo Ramírez then plunked Christian Walker with his first pitch, committed a balk to move over both runners, and walked Emmanuel Rivera to load the bases. Arizona sandwiched a pair of sacrifice flies around Gabriel Moreno’s RBI single to make it 6-4.
Ramírez has allowed runs in five of his last six outings, and his ERA has jumped from 4.03 to 6.33 in that span. Rojas added a two-run single in the sixth, and Smith swatted a two-run shot to left-center in the seventh as the Diamondbacks expanded their lead against Chad Kuhl. Arizona drew eight walks, including five in five innings against the Nationals’ bullpen.
“The walks are going to kill us every time,” commented Washington manager Dave Martinez. “We have to start pounding the strike zone again.” José Ruiz pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the victory.
Stone Garrett’s grand slam in the first inning off Arizona starter Tommy Henry gave Washington a 4-1 lead, but the Diamondbacks got two back in the fourth when Moreno and Smith had RBI singles off Irvin, who allowed four runs in four-plus innings.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw out the first pitch before the Nationals’ annual Night Out game celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
Nationals LHP Patrick Corbin (4-5, 4.92) will start against his former team Wednesday night. Corbin is 0-2 with a 13.86 ERA in two starts against Arizona since leaving the Diamondbacks after the 2018 season. RHP Zach Davies (0-1, 5.40 ERA) is set to start for Arizona. He’s 4-0 with a 2.97 ERA in six career starts against Washington.
