Alek Thomas Stars in D-backs Thumping of the Dodgers

Alek Thomas collected four hits and made a game-saving catch in the fourth inning as Arizona collected 17 hits on the night.

Alek Thomas came into the game tonight without a hit, going 0-16 to start the season. Tonight he had the second four hit game of his career to break out of the slump in a big way.  Asked what it was like to finally break out he said "It was great, it was a good feeling to finally get that first one out of the way....good things happened today and it was a great team win too"

His four hits helped lead the way as the team rapped out 17 hits, eight for extra bases on the way to a 12-8 victory over the Dodgers. 

Thomas' first hit of the night was a scorching ground ball through the hole between first and second 106 MPH off the bat that got all the way into the right field corner. Thomas slid into third base with a triple and came in to score on a Geraldo Perdomo homer into the Dodger's bullpen.  

While Thomas had not been getting results, his statcast metric indicated he was having better at bats than the 0-16 line would have suggested. He hadn't lost any confidence. "I still felt good, regardless of the o'fer", Thomas said.  "I feel like mentally I may have been a little sad going home every day, but coming to the yard I feel good. Just having that mentality, today is going to be good, no matter what the outcome is"

The Dodgers had scored four off of Zach Davies in the top of the first. But the D-backs came right back with one run in the bottom of the first. Then after Perdomo's two run shot, Josh Rojas singled and Ketel Marte also homered to deep right to give the D-backs a 5-4 lead. 

They never trailed again in the game, teeing off on Noah Syndergaard and the Dodgers bullpen. They scored runs in six of the eight innings they came to the plate. Numerous players filled up the box score tonight. 

• Josh Rojas had another three hit night, including a double, an RBI and two runs scored. 

• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. also broke out of aslum with three hits, including a double, a triple and an base hit. He also got on via a hit by pitch, as he scored one run and drove in two. 

• In addition to his two run homer, Marte also had a double and single, scored three runs and drove in two. 

• Corbin Carroll reach base twice on a base hit and hit by pitch, stole two bases and score two runs. 

• Geraldo Perdomo had an RBI double in the 7th to go with his two-run homer

Perdomo went for it all and got it. pic.twitter.com/ADobroIjBQ

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) April 9, 2023

There were also two excellent defensive plays. In the 3rd inning Geraldo Perdomo fielded a sharp one hopper up the middle with a man on first. Rojas, ranging all the way over from third base took the toss from Perdomo as he came across the bag and threw over to first for the  unusual 6-5-3 double play. The game ended on a terrific diving stop by Perdomo to start a 6-4-3 double play as well.

Thomas may have come up with the best defensive play of the season to date, coming in on a sinking liner off the bat of Freddie Freeman and made a sliding catch to preserve a 6-5 lead. The ball was hit at 105 MPH and had an expected batting average of .850. 

A potential game-saving catch by Alek Thomas in center field. Freeman’s liner had an expected batting average of .850 and likely would have given LA the lead. pic.twitter.com/SKGTWdWycH

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) April 9, 2023

While the bullpen gave up three runs, they got the outs they needed to get to preserve the lead. 

As Torey Lovullo said in the post game press conference, it was a complete effort. The only down note was a significant one however as Zach Davies suffered an oblique strain in the fifth inning. Lovullo did not sugar coat the seriousness of the injury, when he said...."Oblique strains are a mess.....it's going to be weeks".  The team is still working out their next roster moves to figure out the rotation. 

There was another late roster move today when Kyle Lewis was placed on the IL with an "undisclosed illness". Pavin Smith was called up to replace him. Smith didn't arrive until 6:00 P.M. tonight, almost an hour after the game had started. 

The Diamondbacks are now 5-4 and go for the series win tomorrow at 1:10 P.M. MST.  Ryne Nelson throws for the D-backs and Michael Grove gets the ball for the Dodgers.  The D-backs bullpen is a little thin right now perhaps, and they are likely to call up a reliever tonight to replace Davies to provide some extra depth. They won't need a starter to replace Davies until next week Friday in Miami thanks to a Thursday off day.