Diamondbacks 7, Cubs 6 (13 innings)
PHOENIX, Sep. 16 — Two teams thick in the hunt for the NL Wild Card. An apparent go-ahead home run correctly overturned by replay. Twenty-six position players and fifteen pitchers used. Seven runs scored in extra innings. A spectator arrested for running onto the field. The tying run scoring with two outs and two strikes on the batter, on a line drive off the pitcher. A veteran in his 16th season, one not known for his speed, scoring the winning run from second on a full-extension head-first slide. Saturday night’s clash at Chase Field between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs had it all, culminating in a 7–6 victory for the Diamondbacks in 13 innings. The victory put them a half-game behind the Cubs for the second Wild Card slot and kept them tied with the Cincinnati Reds — who own the tiebreaker — for the third spot.
“Top five for sure,” manager Torey Lovullo said when asked where it ranks among the craziest games he’s ever managed. “Those are the ones you envision as a kid playing in the backyard,” reliever and winning pitcher Joe Mantiply told reporters after the game. “That was a lot of fun.”
But more importantly, Lovullo said it was a great team win. “You talk about heart and determination and never quitting until your final strike — it’s everything I always ask for,” he stated.
At several points, the four-hour, thirty-two-minute game — the longest in the majors this season — felt like it might never end. On three separate occasions, the Cubs held a lead only to have the Diamondbacks tie it up. Two other times, the lead changed hands.
Diamondbacks Take Lead Over Cubs
The teams traded zeroes through the first three innings against Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies and Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. The Cubs briefly appeared like they had taken a 2–0 lead in the top of the fourth. With designated hitter Christopher Morel on first and one out, first baseman and Phoenix-area native Cody Bellinger hit a high fly into the stands near the right-field foul pole. First base umpire Junior Valentine initially ruled it fair, but replay overturned it. Bellinger ultimately struck out. Shortstop Dansby Swanson followed with a called strikeout before right fielder Seiya Suzuki beat out an infield single to third. It went for naught, as center fielder Mike Tauchman grounded into a 6–4 force play for the third out.
A one-out triple in the bottom of the fourth by designated hitter Tommy Pham gave the Diamondbacks their first hit. When first baseman Christian Walker bounced a ground-rule double into the left-center-field stands, it gave the Diamondbacks their first run. Two batters later, left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. dumped a bloop single into the Bermuda Triangle in left-center, scoring Walker for a 2–0 lead.
Cubs Tie It Up, Game Turns Into Punch-Counterpunch
The Cubs responded in the top of the fifth. A double to left-center by catcher Yan Gomes and infield single to short by third baseman Nick Madrigal, followed by an Ian Happ walk, loaded the bases. Exit stage right for Davies, with Luis Frias inheriting a bases-loaded mess. All three runners scored. Hoerner drew a walk, forcing in Gomes. Morel grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Madrigal without an RBI as Happ took third. Bellinger drove Happ in with a single to right. The threat ended when Swanson grounded to third, the Cubs holding a 3–2 lead.
That lead only lasted an inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Walker led off with a single to right and advanced to third on a single to right-center by center fielder Alek Thomas. Gurriel singled Walker home and chased Hendricks from the game.
Shutdown Relief
Scoreless relief by Miguel Castro, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel kept the Cubs off the board in the sixth through eighth innings. A scoreless seventh by Mark Leiter Jr. and eighth by Julian Merryweather sent the game into the ninth. Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, giving his team a chance for a walk-off victory in the bottom half.
Merryweather returned to the mound for the Cubs as third baseman Jace Peterson dug in. An error by the normally sure-handed Swanson allowed Peterson to reach. Moreno followed with a grounder to short. Swanson threw to Hoerner to force Peterson, but the Cubs could not double up Moreno at first. A pop to third by shortstop Geraldo Perdomo brought up left fielder Corbin Carroll. Carroll did not get to complete his at-bat, however, as Moreno was gunned down trying to steal second, ending the inning and sending the game to extras.
The Extra-Inning Seesaw
Rookie Andrew Saalfrank, in his sixth career appearance, took the hill to pitch the tenth with Hoerner as the automatic runner on second. Morel led off with a sharp grounder into the hole on the left side. Perdomo made a diving play to hold Hoerner at second but could not retire Morel, putting runners at first and second for Bellinger. On 0–2, Hoerner and Morel broke on a double steal attempt. Moreno fired an errant throw to third, allowing Hoerner to score and Morel to take third as the ball bounced slowly into left field.
On the next pitch, the ball came in high and tight, hit something, and floated toward the mound, Saalfrank catching it out of the air. Bellinger headed toward first, looking at his right wrist. Crew chief and third base umpire Chris Guccione, after the crew huddled, announced over the PA that the call on the field was no hit-by-pitch, batter out. The Cubs, to the ire of Bellinger, challenged unsuccessfully. Up came Swanson, who hit a chopper up the middle. Saalfrank quickly moved to his right and gloved it, throwing home to get Morel into a rundown.
On the 1–2–5–6 putout, Swanson reached second, but there were now two outs. With first base open, the Diamondbacks walked Suzuki intentionally to pitch to rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the sixth. Crow-Armstrong walked unintentionally, loading the bases for Gomes. He grounded into a 6–4 force play to retire the side, the Cubs leading, 4–3.
The 10th and 11th
In came Marcus Stroman to pitch the tenth, shooting for his first save since 2014, his rookie season. That bid lasted all of three pitches, as Carroll drove in automatic runner Perdomo with an 0–2 single to left. Carroll advanced to second on a grounder to second by Marte, but a Pham strikeout and Walker grounder to third left Carroll stranded.
Saalfrank returned to the mound in the 11th with Gomes as the automatic runner. Madrigal led off with a grounder to short, Gomes remaining at second as Perdomo threw to first for the out. Happ singled sharply to right, hitting the ball too hard for Gomes to score from second. With runners now on the corners and one out, Hoerner roped a single through the hole and into left, giving the Cubs a 5–4 lead as Gomes crossed the plate. After Morel reached first on a 1–5 fielder’s choice force play, Bellinger grounded to short for the third out.
Lefty Drew Smyly took the mound for the Cubs in the bottom of the 11th. Jake McCarthy, running for Walker, headed to second as the automatic runner. Thomas sacrifice bunted him to third, nearly beating the throw to first. Gurriel brought McCarthy in with a single to left-center, tying the game at five. Emmanuel Rivera, pinch-hitting for the left-handed-hitting Peterson as rookie shortstop Jordan Lawlar ran for Gurriel, could not continue the rally, ending the inning with a 6-4-3 double play groundout.
Missed Opportunities
Neither team scored in the 12th, despite the Cubs having runners on first and second with one out against new pitcher Joe Mantiply and the Diamondbacks having the bases loaded with one out against Smyly. For the Diamondbacks, the 12th was especially frustrating, as they had runners on first and second with nobody out and Perdomo — among their best bunters — attempting to move the runners along with a sacrifice. Instead of getting the bunt down, he weakly popped it foul behind the plate. Gomes had no trouble hopping up out of his crouch and catching the popup. That brought up Marte with one out and the infield in, but he swung wildly at three consecutive knuckle curves in the dirt for the second out. McCarthy ended the inning with a groundout to third.
Cubs Take Lead Yet Again
On to the top of the 13th, with Mantiply still pitching. Gomes, the automatic runner, advanced to third when Patrick Wisdom smacked a single to left. Lovullo visited the mound to go over the infield defense with Lawlar. Happ promptly smashed a liner to first, where Rivera knocked it down. He recovered, stepped on the bag, and fired to second for a 3-6 reverse double play as Gomes scored the go-ahead run. Before a 1–2 pitch to Hoerner, a spectator ran onto the field and caused a delay as security chased him down. When play resumed, Hoerner singled to left, but Morel could not advance him, grounding to third for the third out.
Snatching Victory From the Jaws of Defeat
McCarthy sacrificed automatic runner Pham to third to lead off the bottom of the 13th. Evan Longoria, a righty, pinch-hit for the left-handed-hitting Thomas with Smyly still on the mound. But Cubs manager David Ross countered by bringing the right-handed Hayden Wesneski in to face Longoria. A walk put runners on the corners for Lawlar with one out. He popped to the second baseman, bringing up Rivera as the last hope for the Diamondbacks.
On 2–2, with the Diamondbacks one strike away from defeat, Rivera lined a shot back at Wesneski. It glanced off his upper right arm, near the shoulder. The ball popped into the air and floated toward Swanson, who charged in but could not make a shoestring catch or even field it cleanly.
With Longoria now on second and Rivera on first, Moreno stepped to the plate. On 0–2, he rolled a single through the hole and into right. Longoria, not known for his speed, motored his way to third. Determined to score, he did not even look toward third base coach Tony Perezchica as he rounded third. The throw came to the first-base side of the plate. Gomes caught it and lunged back to his left, holding his glove out to tag the diving Longoria. At the very last second, Longoria, who was diving to the outside of home, stuck his left hand out toward the middle of the plate. It touched the corner a fraction of a second before Gomes’ glove touched his chest. Plate umpire Jeremie Rehak emphatically signaled “SAFE!” from one knee, sending a jubilant dugout pouring onto the field to give Moreno a hero’s welcome.
Postgame
Longoria told reporters he was “nervous” coming home on the winning hit. “I understood the ball was hit hard, and the kid (Suzuki) has got a great throwing arm,” he said. But Longoria felt he had to at least try, since that was the first chance the Diamondbacks had all game to score two in one of the extra innings. “I figured I’m gonna try and run, and hopefully he (either) makes a bad throw or I can beat it in there. It wasn’t a horrible throw, (but I was) able to get in there.”
Mantiply said that he and his teammates joked that Longoria was either going to “be safe or is gonna blow a hammy coming around third.” According to Sarah Langs via X (formerly Twitter), Longoria’s sprint speed on that hit was 27.3 feet per second, 1.1 higher than his season average of 26.2. And his slide, for which he deservedly received much praise, happened for a different reason than it appeared. “I’m not even looking at where the catcher is,” he said, although he saw the catcher out of the corner of his eye. When he saw he had an open lane on the outside, he dove. As he was sliding in, he felt he was too far on the outside, so he reached out toward the middle of the plate, touching it an instant before the catcher touched his chest.
Regardless of the specifics, Longoria impressed his teammates and the staff. Lovullo declared with a smile, “He’ll never slide headfirst for anything else in his life ever again, besides a professional baseball game. So it’s amazing to watch him do that. That’s a commitment.”
A commitment to reach the playoffs, something the Diamondbacks are thick in the hunt for.
Looking Ahead
Mantiply (2–2) earned the win, while Wesneski (2–5) took a tough loss, both in relief. The Diamondbacks (78–72) and Cubs (78–71) conclude their three-game series and seven-game season series Sunday evening on an ESPN national broadcast. Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson (7–8, 5.53 ERA) will take the hill against Cubs southpaw Jordan Wicks (3–0, 1.99 ERA). First pitch will be at 4:10 pm Arizona Time/6:10 pm Central.
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Main Photo Credits:
PHOENIX (Sep. 17) — Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Evan Longoria dives in with the winning run, narrowly evading the tag from Cubs catcher Yan Gomes as plate umpire Jeremie Rehak and on-deck hitter Geraldo Perdomo look on. The Diamondbacks won, 7–6, in 13 innings. (Screen capture from @Dbacks via @MLBONFOX on X (formerly Twitter))
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