Diamondbacks 12, Rangers 7
ARLINGTON, Tex. (May 3) — Christian Walker went 2-for-4 with two homers, five RBI, a walk, and three runs scored, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 2-for-3 with a homer, an RBI, two walks, and three runs scored to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 12–7 victory over the Texas Rangers Wednesday afternoon. The two teams combined for eight home runs in this game, a record for Globe Life Field.
The victory came in the major league debut of highly touted Diamondbacks pitching prospect Brandon Pfaadt, who had around 30 friends and relatives rooting for him. For the Louisville, Kentucky native, it meant the world to see so many show up on his big day. “It meant a ton,” a grateful and smiling Pfaadt said, his voice breaking slightly. “A lot of people along the way, to this moment — it’s awesome to have 30 people show up in Texas. That’s not a drive away. It’s a fly away, so it means a lot.”
Pfaadt was the latest young Diamondback to make his debut and have a legion of supporters show up. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo beamed as he spoke of the turnout in support of his young players. “I’m honored to be their manager,” he said. “And I’m a big fan of what families bring to their children, supporting them along the way. I know every parent out there has gone through it — diapers to Little League games, the uniform changes, and you see your son on a major league field. It’s pretty good. I was trying to lock in on them, I know they were in Section 106. Could hear them, I couldn’t always see them. But I know they were there supporting him. It’s pretty special.”
Rangers Take Early Lead, Diamondbacks Bounce Back Quickly
Pfaadt and Rangers starter Andrew Heaney each pitched a scoreless first. Heaney repeated the feat in the top of the second. With one out in the bottom of the second, the Rangers broke through as designated hitter Jonah Heim belted a solo homer to the stands in right-center. Two batters later, and with two outs, center fielder Leody Taveras hit a low liner to second. Ketel Marte knocked it down but could not get the throw to first in time for the out. As catcher Sandy Leon batted, Taveras tried to steal second, but a strong throw by Jose Herrera nabbed him for the inning-ending out.
The Diamondbacks responded in the top of the third after a leadoff walk by Herrera and a two-out walk by left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Up came first baseman Christian Walker. On 3–2, he smashed a rocket to left field — a 112.4 mph laser that cleared the fence by a foot. Third baseman Evan Longoria followed with a grounder to third, retiring the side with the Diamondbacks holding a 3–1 lead.
Diamondbacks Extend Lead, Rangers Seize Control with Big Inning
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Josh Jung — whom Pfaadt struck out for his first major league strikeout in the second — avenged the whiff with a towering homer to the second deck in left. But the Diamondbacks responded immediately, as Herrera led off the fifth with a walk. Marte followed with a screaming liner to right-center that squeaked over the fence for a two-run dinger and a 5–2 lead. After consecutive groundouts to third by designated hitter Emmanuel Rivera and Gurriel, Walker dumped a fastball over the fence in center, inches above the glove of a leaping Taveras. This made the score 6–2 and chased Heaney out of the game in favor of Josh Sborz, who retired Longoria for the third out on a liner to right.
Taveras got the run back immediately, leading off the bottom of the fifth with a line-drive homer over the Rangers bullpen in right-center. Leon followed with a double to center but held at second when Semien, up next, grounded to third for the first out. Jankowski dumped a flare near the line in shallow left, scoring Leon on a hustle double. Lowe followed with a sharp grounder to second. Marte tried to field it but couldn’t handle the tough hop, giving Lowe a single as Jankowski advanced to third. Garcia ripped a deep fly to center that Thomas caught on the track, allowing Jankowski to score from third. Jung followed with his second homer of the game, giving the Rangers a 7–6 lead as Pfaadt’s day ended.
Jose Ruiz took over, and Heim welcomed him with a deep liner headed for the left-field corner. Gurriel ran it down for a fine catch, bumping into the wall after making the snag for the third out.
A Crooked Number in the Top of the Seventh Puts Diamondbacks Back on Top
The Diamondbacks regained the lead in the top of the seventh. Corbin Carroll, pinch-hitting for Herrera, lined a single to shallow center and advanced to second when Marte, up next, walked. Rivera grounded a single through the hole and into left, tying the game as Carroll crossed the plate. Out came Rangers manager Bruce Bochy with the hook for Sborz. In came reliever Jose Leclerc. He walked Gurriel to load the bases for Walker. He walked on four pitches, with the last three high and tight, giving the Diamondbacks an 8–7 lead as Marte scored.
Lovullo said the patience shown by Walker means he is an experienced hitter. “I think young Christian Walker probably goes up there in swing mode. But mature, experienced Christian Walker says, ‘You gotta throw me a strike three times.’ Leclerc has really good stuff. And the scouting report tells us that when it’s missing, it’ll be consistent, so make him throw strikes. He did a good job of that.”
“Proud of myself there for some discipline,” Walker chuckled. “It’s easy to want to launch something, or try to at least.” While Leclerc struggled to throw strikes Wednesday, he still “has good stuff,” in Walker’s words. “You have to respect it,” he added. “It’s one of those things. (Gurriel’s) at-bat before me — four straight balls. It was following the trend — try to pass the baton, all the team cliches right there to just keep it moving.”
The final three pitches being near his chin certainly made it less difficult for Walker to avoid swinging. He chuckled before saying, “In my head, I was gonna take until I got a strike. That makes it easy. Three, alright, head to first base.”
Diamondbacks Bat Around
Josh Rojas — pinch-hitting for Longoria — continued the scoring in the seventh by lifting a sacrifice fly to right, plating Rivera for a 9–7 lead. A single to left by Fletcher brought Gurriel home for a 10–7 lead.
Former Diamondback Ian Kennedy took over for Leclerc with a mess on his hands — runners on first and second, one out, and four runs already in. He first faced Geraldo Perdomo, pinch-hitting for Ahmed. Perdomo fouled off four straight pitches with a 2–2 count before ripping a liner into the right-field corner for a double, bringing Walker around with the 11th Diamondback run. With a drawn-in infield, Thomas hit a grounder to first. Lowe threw home in time to hose a sliding Fletcher for the second out. Up came Carroll for the second time in the inning. After Thomas stole second without a play, Carroll fanned, retiring the side with the Diamondbacks leading, 11–7.
Finishing It Off
Mantiply shut the Rangers down in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the side in order. Marte led off the eighth against Kennedy by striking out looking, the 14th pitch of the at-bat. After a fly to right by Rivera, Gurriel lifted a deep drive to right-center. It snuck over the fence for the eighth homer of the game, making the score 12–7. Walker ended the half-inning with a foul fly to the first baseman.
Miguel Castro took over in the eighth, pitching around a one-out infield single by shortstop Ezequiel Duran and walk by Taveras in a scoreless frame. Yerry Rodriguez pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, stranding Perdomo at first after a two-out single. Andrew Chafin struck out pinch-hitter Bubba Thompson and Lowe to start the bottom of the ninth. Garcia followed with a grounder to second, appearing to wrap up the game, but Marte couldn’t handle it. The error gave the Rangers second life and brought up Jung, who dumped a single to right. Up came Heim with runners on the corners. Jung took second on defensive indifference, taking away the force as the count ran to 0–2. Chafin ultimately fanned Heim, sealing the 12–7 victory.
“We Compete”
Manager Torey Lovullo bluntly summed up his team’s perseverance. “We compete. They go out every inning. The comments for some of the pitching changes I was making, they were getting after it. Talking about staying with the process and the plan. ‘We’re gonna break through at some point.’
“I’m proud of these guys. We lost a tough game yesterday. (Today) we gave up five runs, (the Rangers) took the lead, (but we) won the game by scoring and putting up a big, crooked number. I’m very happy.”
Lovullo credited the big seventh as “one thing after another, good approaches.” He praised his team for not giving the pitcher too much credit. “We were expanding the zone and changing our sight lines a little bit. Counterpunching some quality pitches. We impacted the ball when we needed to, but it was us being patient. Drawing walks. Having baserunners on base and continuing to put pressure on the pitcher. I think we eventually broke him.”
Left Him Out There Too Long?
When asked about Pfaadt’s day, Lovullo immediately admitted, “I left him out there too long. I was trying to get him through five. We were a little short in the bullpen. I can give you every excuse as the reason why I did it — I shouldn’t have. But aside from the last batter or two, I thought he did a good job. A couple of chip hits in the fifth inning, and then a very hot hitter came up and took advantage of a mistake. All in all, I feel like for his first outing, he did a good job. He slowed the game down enough in the right spots, made pitches when he had to, and almost got the win.”
Asked if he was trying to get Pfaadt through five so he could get the win in his major league debut, Lovullo nodded definitively and said, “I think so. But I can’t manage that way. I thought it was a chip hit to left by Jankowski and was a play to Marte’s left. Felt like if we could have made the play, it would have been a totally different outcome. I thought he deserved the opportunity, based on how he was pitching, to get that win. At the end of it, it’s a two-run home run, and there goes the lead. You’re obviously second-guessing yourself. But it worked out well.”
Pfaadt’s Self-Evaluation
Pfaadt said he “felt good with the change-up and the slider, when it was in a good location.” In addition, he said his fastball felt good “when it was hitting.” For his next start, he plans on working on “command” and trusting his “ability to mix,” when to do so, and when to “go up and go down.”
Pfaadt felt that the home runs he allowed were “more location than selection.” He said, “I got too impatient into the middle of the plate.” Pfaadt did not feel at all like he was out of gas in the fifth since his “adrenaline was still pumping.”
Sticking with the Plan
Perdomo, with his 2-for-2 performance off the bench, is now hitting .409 on the season. Lovullo does not plan to get him any more at-bats than he is already scheduled to get. “I’m gonna stick with the plan,” he said. “It’s working. Like I said yesterday, we have two starting shortstops (Perdomo and Ahmed). They both pick up the ball defensively and can impact the ball in the right matchups. Gerry is doing a great job. Of course, naturally there are more right-handed pitchers in the big leagues. So we’ll continue with what we’ve been doing. It’s working, and I don’t want to change it up.”
Injury Updates
Lovullo gave updates on some of the injured Diamondbacks. Outfielder/designated hitter Kyle Lewis had four at-bats in extended spring training and felt good, although he hit only and did not run. Right-handed pitcher Zach Davies threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Monday and will throw another on Friday. Lovullo said he “came out just fine.” Catcher Carson Kelly “caught some flies and did some work with the ball in his hand but did not take any swings with a bat.”
Quick Hits
The Rangers, after 30 games, have a +69 run differential (191–122). This is a Washington–Texas franchise record for the first 30 games of a season. It is also the second-highest run output ever over the first 30 games, after 195 runs in 1998. … Jung was the AL Rookie of the Month for April. His homers Wednesday were the seventh and eighth of the season for him, first in the AL and in the majors for rookies. Seven of his last eight hits have gone for extra bases, with five homers and two doubles. … The 12 runs scored by the Diamondbacks match their season high, April 8 vs the Los Angeles Dodgers. … With the win Wednesday, the Diamondbacks snapped a two-game skid. They have won four of their last six and still have not lost more than two in a row in 2023.
Looking Ahead
Mantiply (1–0) earned the win, while Sborz (0–1) took the loss, both in relief. The Diamondbacks (17–14, second in NL West, 1 GB) and Rangers (18–12, first in AL West, 2 GA) both head west. After an off-day Thursday, the Diamondbacks open a 10-game homestand Friday. They will first face the Washington Nationals (11–18, fifth in NL East, 8 1/2 GB) in a three-game set. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher as of press time. The Rangers, meanwhile, are also off Thursday and will open a 10-game West Coast swing Friday. They will first face the second-place Los Angeles Angels (16–14, second in AL West, 2 GB) in a three-game set in Anaheim. Neither team in this pairing has announced a starting pitcher, either.
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