Cold Bats, Puk's 9th Inning Meltdown Send D-backs to Defeat

The D-backs mustered just two hits and their best reliever had his worst game as a Diamondback in a 5-0 loss to the Padres.

Sep 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher A.J. Puk (33) reacts after allowing a home run to San Diego Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka (20) during the ninth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres stunned the Arizona Diamondbacks with five runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Arizona 5-0. It was a game the D-backs had to win to keep their hopes of clinching a playoff spot on Sunday alive. That's now impossible.

The New York Mets also lost on Saturday. If the D-backs can salvage the series finale on Sunday and the Mets go no better than 1-2 in their last three games, or the Braves go 0-3, the D-backs can still secure a wild card spot. The Braves and Mets play each other in a doubleheader on Monday.

A.J. Puk had been the most effective reliever in MLB for three full months, dating back to June 23. In 42 innings pitched he had allowed just one earned run, which came on August 4 in his fourth game as a Diamondback. He struck out 65 batters and walked just eight in that span. Left-handers have been especially helpless against him.

Called on to face former Diamondback David Peralta with one out in the ninth, it seemed like the perfect matchup. But Peralta reached out and poked a fastball up out over the plate and knocked it into right-center for a base hit.

Kyle Higashioka followed with a two-run blast to score the first runs of the game. Brandon Lockridge went back to back, upping the Padres lead to 3-0. Explaining the home runs Puk said "they both hit sliders, it's just one of those things, they put some good swings on the ball, they're good hitters, it wasn't my day today."

Puk threw 16 pitches on Wednesday and then 21 on Friday, but he insisted he felt fine and was not fatigued in any way. "I feel good," he said. "It's just one of those things, it's baseball, things happen like that. I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow, trying to get that win so we can get to the playoffs."

Scott McGough relieved Puk and gave up a two-run homer to Donovan Solano. At that point with the score 5-0, the fans at Chase Field started streaming for the exits.

On a night the Diamondbacks had to win, they could not hit. Randy Vasquez was called up from Triple-A by the Padres to start the game. He no-hit the D-backs for five innings before a Corbin Carroll leadoff double started the sixth.

The D-backs had second and third with one out in that inning, but could not score as Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. struck out. The D-backs did not collect their second hit until a meaningless single in the ninth by Walker.

"Gotta tip your hat," Walker said. "It's frustrating to say but there's two sides of it. Somebody else is doing their job when they're getting you out. We had some opportunities, just couldn't execute when it mattered."

The Padres also made a number of excellent defense plays to rob base hits. Two of them came from another former Diamondback, Nick Ahmed, who was playing second base. Manny Machado made a spectacular diving stop on a smash down the third base line from Randal Grichuk to rob extra bases.

The D-backs defense played well too. Ketel Marte in particular, who had a rough night on defense on Friday, made several outstanding plays to rob base hits.

Euduardo Rodriguez pitched 4.2 solid shutout innings, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out three. Torey Lovullo conceded that he had a quick hook with Rodriguez, but it's hard to fault the process.

Kevin Ginkel, Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson, and Justin Martinez threw shutout baseball to bridge it to the ninth and Puk. Lovullo had all the matchups he wanted. He turned the ball over to his best reliever, a man who had allowed one run in 42 innings. It didn't work out.

Brandon Pfaadt will get the ball in game 162 for the D-backs. He'll be opposed by left-hander Martin Perez. First pitch is 12:10 p.m., earlier than the usual Sunday start time as all MLB games will start at the same time on Sunday.