*Photo from AZ Central*
Daulton Varsho entered Thursday night's game sitting on the bench. He wasn't expecting to play, he was in fact, on the bench. But Varsho is why a win was the result. Varsho drove in two runs, Carson Kelly homered, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Thursday night.
Varsho entered the game as a pinch hitter, hitting in the pitchers spot in the 5th inning. He ended up staying in the game in center field, and his two RBI's were the difference between a 6-4 win for the D-Backs, and a 4-4 tie in extra innings with an unknown result lying ahead. It's an important win for the D-Backs, who are looking to salvage anything out of what has been a lackluster season.
Before the game began, it was announced that, despite having quite a terrible year, the D-Backs awarded manager Torey Lovullo with a one year extension for the 2022 season, as he was on an expiring contract. The contract also includes a club option for the 2023 season, depending on how they feel about Lovullo at that point in time.
Lovullo talked about his new extension after the game, saying that "We know what the record looks like. I’m not an idiot. I know what can happen in these types of circumstances. But they have enough faith in me to continue running this team from the dugout level, and I’m going to give my absolute best effort every single day to get this thing turned around and pushed in the right direction."
The Braves got the game started by jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning, thanks to an RBI double from Ozzie Albies and a two run home run from Austin Riley. Arizona got on the board in the 5th thanks to a pinch hit RBI single from Varsho, making it 3-1. In the 6th, the Braves made it 4-1 off a sac fly from Dansby Swanson.
Entering the 7th inning trailing 4-1, it quickly became all D-Backs that inning. In fact, the 7th inning is the reason they won this game. It started with Kelly delivering a game tying 3 run home run to left field, knotting the game up 4-4. Later on, Varsho delivered an RBI double to put the D-Backs in the lead, by a 5-4 score. Varsho then scored on a sac fly from Henry Ramos to make it 6-4, and that was all from there.
Sean Poppen got the win in relief for the D-Backs, delivering a scoreless 7th inning with two strikeouts, increasing his record to 1-0 this season. Madison Bumgarner got the no decision in his start, lasting 5 innings and allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and two walks, striking out 5 hitters. Taylor Widener allowed one run in the 6th inning in relief, followed by Noe Ramirez shutting it down in the 8th inning, and JB Wendelken picking up his second save of the season with a scoreless 9th.
Jacob Webb got the loss for the Braves, allowing 3 runs in the 7th inning, failing to record an out in his appearance, dropping his record to 5-4 this season. He was also charged with a blown save, his first. It wasted a solid start from Charlie Morton, who allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and two walks, while punching out 8 hitters in 6 innings pitched. Tyler Matzek and Richard Rodriguez also pitched in relief.
Morton said of the loss to end the series that "It’s really just about coming together and finishing strong. The wins and losses will take care of themselves. We know what’s going on. Right now, it’s really just about making sure we’re tight and we’re going to push through this."
The D-Backs start a weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, with Humberto Castellanos slated to take the mound as he starts. The Braves face the San Diego Padres, where they will first conclude a suspended game in July, and then play the regularly scheduled game, with Max Fried starting the originally scheduled game, and the bullpen likely finishing the suspended game.
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