*Photo from AP News*
This ended up being a memorable game for everyone. Gabriel Moreno drove in a run, Christian Walker homered twice, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4-3 extra innings victory Tuesday night in Phoenix.
While the D-Backs won in walk off fashion, the big story was how the game started. The game was delayed nearly two hours due to a swarm of bees landing on the top of the netting above home plate. While both sides were talking about a plan, the D-Backs called Blue Sky Pest Control.
Matt Hilton, a beekeeper at Blue Sky, was at his son's tee ball game when he got the call, and immediately went over to Chase Field. Talking to the D-Backs to get them everything he needed, he was escorted onto the field via a cart and went up on a lift to remove the bees from the netting, thus allowing the game to start.
Hilton said of his quick response that "Well, we know that this was really important to get these games going, and so when we hear that there's bee issues out at Diamondbacks’ stadium, we tried to get at it right away. We were happy to deploy really quickly and come get this game going."
After a scoreless first 3 innings post bee delay, the D-Backs got on the board in the 4th. Walker gave the D-Backs a 1-0 lead when he blasted a solo home run to center field, his 6th of the season. Andy Pages tied the game in the 5th for the Dodgers when he scored on a wild pitch. Will Smith scored on a balk in the 6th to make it 2-1 Dodgers.
Moreno tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th for the D-Backs thanks to an RBI single that scored Joc Pederson. Come the top of the 10th, the Dodgers took a 3-2 lead on a sac fly from Smith that brought in Gavin Lux. In the bottom of the 10th, Walker hit a two run home run to send the D-Backs home with a memorable walk off bee drama win.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Walker's walk off that "It's one of those fun baseball moments. I told him to hit one to the [expletive] moon. I said you're locked in, nobody's a better hitter on this field at this point in time."
Brandon Hughes pitched a scoreless first for the D-Backs, who went with a bullpen game. Bryce Jarvis followed with 3 scoreless innings before Justin Martinez allowed a run. Joe Mantiply allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings, Ryan Thompson pitched two scoreless innings, Kevin Ginkel one, and Scott McGough got the win as he pitched the 10th.
Landon Knack was the starter for the Dodgers and allowed one run on 4 hits in 5 innings pitched. Michael Grove and Joe Kelly each threw a scoreless inning before Daniel Hudson allowed a run in the 8th and Nabil Crismatt gave up the walk off in the 10th.
The series concludes Wednesday night. Both teams will go for the series win as Jordan Montgomery gets the start for the D-Backs, opposed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers.
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