The Arizona Diamondbacks salvaged the finale against the Chicago Cubs 3-2 in 11 innings. They overcame two rain delays, an injury to their starting pitcher, and some frustrating at-bats with runners in scoring position late for a gritty win to close out a 4-2 road trip.
Merrill Kelly got off to a bumpy start, as three of the first four Cubs reached. Following a 59-minute rain delay, a checked swing by Michael Busch fell safely in left field to score the game's first run. Kelly was able to escape the inning with no further damage.
From that point forward, the right-hander was on cruise control. Kelly retired the next 16 hitters of the game, a career-high, and appeared to be in full control of the game. However, his right leg started cramping after throwing a pitch to Seiya Suzuki in the sixth and was immediately removed. He finished with just the one run allowed in 5.2 innings on two hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
"It's the same stuff I've been dealing with for however long," Kelly told Dbacks.TV's Jody Jackson postgame. Frustrating, for sure. Serious, no. I feel fine right now. Just going to try to get back to the drawing board and see if we can uncover a rock that we haven't yet."
The offense got to a slow start against Cubs starter Jameson Taillon. Taillon retired the first six hitters before a walk to Tim Tawa. Arizona got their first hit in the fourth on a Pavin Smith fly ball that landed just fair in the left field corner for a double. Josh Naylor capitalized on the opportunity with a hard single to right to plate Smith to even up the game.
The Diamondbacks had a chance to take the lead in the inning, with runners at second and third and one out. Alek Thomas hit a ground ball to Nico Hoerner's left, but the Cubs' second baseman was able to get the out at home plate on Naylor. That marked the beginning of missed opportunities for Arizona, who left seven runners on base in a tight ballgame.
The trio of Ryan Thompson, Jalen Beeks, and Shelby Miller pitched well enough to force extra innings. The Diamondbacks took the lead in the 10th inning when Nico Hoerner dropped Jordan Wicks' throw on a José Herrera sacrifice bunt. An Eugenio Suárez single moved a critical insurance run to third with no outs, but Arizona stranded Herrera at third.
That proved to be a costly mistake, as the Cubs immediately tied the game off Miller in the 10th. Nico Hoerner rolled a ground ball that deflected off Tim Tawa's glove to shallow center to score Dansby Swanson. However, Miller was able to keep the winning run from scoring, allowing the Diamondbacks to jump ahead for good the following inning.
Naylor once again delivered a big knock in the 11th, putting Arizona ahead 3-2. With closer Justin Martinez unavailable for the game, they turned to Drey Jameson to close it out.
"[Martinez] was just a little bit fatigued, heavy workload for the first couple weeks of the season," Lovullo told Jackson. "With the built-in off day tomorrow, we feel like he's going to be 100% ready for the rest of the season.
"Once again, I cannot pitch [Martinez], [A.J. Puk], Beeks, Shelby [Miller] every game. I would love to. We have to ber esponsible here and this is just a situation where he needs a little bit of rest and he'll get back on the bump on Tuesday if needed," Lovullo said.
The skipper said Martinez does not need imaging, and cited it as "overall fatigue" rather than an injury.
"Once the trainer comes in and talks to me about that, I have to really pay attention to it. And when he says [Martinez] needs another day off, he needs another day off. Out of respect to the athlete and what's going on around us right now with [Puk], we're not going to risk anything," he continued.
It couldn't have been a tougher landing spot for Jameson, who made his first appearance since July 2023. Fortunately, it took only two hitters for him to record his first save of the year, thanks to an unassisted double play turned by Geraldo Perdomo on an Ian Happ line drive up the middle to start the frame.
The Diamondbacks return home to Chase Field to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Brandon Pfaadt (3-1, 3.04 ERA) will go for his fourth consecutive win while the Rays will send out right-hander Zack Littell (0-4, 5.48 ERA). First pitch Tuesday night is set for 6:40 p.m. MST.
