Kevin Newman’s Walk-Off Seals Diamondbacks’ Victory Amidst Umpire Drama

In the 8th inning, Arizona’s bullpen struggled once again, as Mike Ford blasted a triple off Kevin Ginkel to give the Reds back the lead.

Trailing by one run with just three outs remaining, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. took one for the team to start the 9th inning, reaching base via a hit by pitch. Then, after a pair of walks, Kevin Newman, who played for the Reds last season, delivered his 4th hit of the ballgame, driving in two runs with a base knock into right field to hand the D-backs a win.

It was Newman’s 6th walk-off of his career.

Umpire drama

In the 8th inning, with runners on 1st and 2nd base and just one out, Joc Pederson struck out on a pitch that was a couple of inches off the plate. Reacting to the strike three call, Pederson flipped his bat, resulting in an ejection from home-plate umpire Mark Carlson.

Torey Lovullo, coming to his player’s defense, was also ejected.

After the game, Pederson noted, “I didn’t know flipping your bat was such a horrendous thing to do.” Lovullo commented, “I can’t take any more of this game, so you’re getting the worst of me.”

These ejections ended up working out perfectly, acting as a spark for Arizona to walk it off an inning later.

Next up

Now 4-0 against the Reds this season, the Diamondbacks will be back in action tomorrow night at 6:40 pm. Slade Cecconi, who has recently found his stride in the majors with four quality starts already this year, is scheduled to start on the mound.

As for the Reds, they will have former 2nd overall pick Hunter Greene getting the start. Greene allowed three earned runs in five innings last week against the Diamondbacks. Overall this season, he holds a 3.38 ERA.