*Photo from the Arizona Republic*
When a player gets hit by the pitch, it's considered "taking one for the team." When a player gets hit by a pitch to win the game, that's taking one for the team on a whole other level. Jake Meyers delivered the tying run, Chas McCormick drove in the winning run by getting hit by a pitch, and the Houston Astros defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night.
Astros manager Dusty Baker said of the win that "Boy, that was a strange game. It was a weird game. We had one hit and two runs for a while, and they had one run and a whole bunch of hits. Fortunately for us, they left a whole lot of runners on base, and our pitchers pitched out of a lot of jams. But our guys, they kept battling."
The game remained scoreless until the top of the 6th inning, when Kole Calhoun hit a solo home run for the D-Backs, giving them a 1-0 lead as starter Madison Bumgarner was throwing a no hitter. In the bottom of the 6th, Jose Altuve broke up the no hitter and shutout, launching a two run home run to left field and giving Houston a 2-1 lead. In the 8th, Josh Van Meter hit an RBI single to tie things up 2-2.
In the top of the 10th, Arizona took a 3-2 lead thanks to an RBI single from David Peralta, scoring Josh Rojas. In the bottom of the 10th, Meyers singled into shallow center field to tie the game 3-3 when Martin Maldonado crossed the plate. Then, with the bases loaded and the count 0-2 to McCormick, he was hit by a pitch, bringing Yordan Alvarez to the plate and sealing the win.
Due to injuries in the starting rotation, the Astros went with a bullpen game, and Ryne Stanek got the win, pitching the 10th inning for Houston, improving to 3-4 this season. Brandon Bielak started the game and went 2 2/3 innings, striking out 6 hitters while allowing 3 hits and walking two. Blake Taylor, Brooks Raley, Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Kendall Graveman, and Ryan Pressly also pitched.
Baker said of using a bullpen game that "It was outstanding. We were mixing and matching the best way we could. They have a lot of lefty hitters, and you've got to have some lefties to combat them. Hopefully, we'll get a good night's sleep and come back smoking tomorrow."
Tyler Clippard blew his 3rd save of the season and got the loss to fall to 1-1 for the D-Backs, allowing the walkoff in the 10th. Bumgarner produced a very strong start for Arizona, allowing two runs on one hit and one walk, striking out 3 hitters. He had a no hitter going into the 6th as well. JB Wendelken, Noe Ramirez, and Joe Mantiply also pitched.
It's an important loss for the D-Backs, as this loss has given them 100 this season. It's a big drop from what was expected of them, as they were supposed to be hovering around the middle of the NL West race, with a slight chance to compete. It's the second time in franchise history they've lost over 100 games, with the 2004 team finishing with a 51-111 record.
Bumgarner said of being on a 100 loss team that "That’s something I’ve never done. But obviously, we’ve seen it coming. We’ve been on pace to blow past that for quite some time. Unfortunately, it’s not a surprise. That’s not something that anybody was eager to see happen."
The Astros and D-Backs continue their series this evening, with Humberto Castellanos getting the start for Arizona, and Lance McCullers getting the start for Houston.
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