*Photo from Yahoo Movies Canada*
It was a former Houston Astros prospect that got the last laugh, at least for now. Seth Beer tied the game, Ketel Marte drove in the winning run, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Astros with a 3-2 walkoff win in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix.
Beer, who debuted for 5 games last season and is still in his rookie season this year, was a former prospect in the Astros farm system. He was sent to the D-Backs in the Zack Greinke trade at the 2019 trade deadline. When he finally debuted at the end of 2021, he already has a couple of highlights to his name, including an opening day walkoff home run, which was national Beer day coincidentally.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of the grinding game that "That was a grinding win, a grinding game, and I hope that these guys are all emotionally exhausted, because from what it looked like, they were invested, they were engaged and they were doing everything they possibly could to have the type of outcome that they had. We talked about winning a grinding baseball game and how it feels good for these guys because of how bad they wanted it."
The D-Backs got on the board in the second inning, when Marte was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Pavin Smith to make it 1-0 in favor of the D-Backs. In the 7th inning, the Astros tied the game 1-1, when Chas McCormick scored on a Martin Maldonado sac fly.
It remained tied until the top of the 10th inning. Alex Bregman put the Astros ahead 2-1 with a sac fly to right field, scoring Jeremy Pena. In the bottom of the 10th, Arizona tied it 2-2 when Sergio Alcantara scored on an RBI single from Beer. With Marte at the plate, he ripped a sac fly to left field, deep enough to score Beer and give Arizona a walkoff win.
Arizona DH Cooper Hummel said of hitting the road after a win that "It's way better. I've been sitting on a bus or plane after a loss, and it's no fun. But after a win like that and going into New York and facing a very good Mets team? It puts us in the right spot going forward."
It was reliever Oliver Perez who got the win for the D-Backs, who pitched the end of the 10th inning, improving to 1-1 on the season. Merrill Kelly was the starter, allowing 3 hits and two walks, striking out 6 hitters over 5 1/3 shutout innings. Sean Poppen was the only Arizona reliever to allow a run in the contest, with Kyle Nelson, Noe Ramirez, Ian Kennedy, and Mark Melancon having scoreless outings.
Ryan Pressly blew a save chance and also got the loss for the Astros, who have lost their only two games to under .500 teams so far. Framber Valdez got the start, allowing one run on two hits and 5 walks, striking out 3 hitters in 3 innings pitched. Ronel Blanco, Cristian Javier, Rafael Montero, and Hector Neris also pitched.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said after the game that "We have won four out of six, I think that’s a good start for us. We’re going to keep playing game by game and hopefully we keep winning some games."
After an off day on Thursday, both teams hit the road for weekend series beginning on Friday. The D-Backs play an afternoon game against the New York Mets, with Zach Davies getting the start. The Astros take on the Seattle Mariners, with Jake Odorizzi to start.
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