Diamondbacks Score Five in Ninth Inning to Walk Off the Padres

The inning had started with three straight line drive singles against Padres closer Robert Suarez, who came in with a 1.78 ERA and 21 saves. Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno, and Alek Thomas all had base knocks though, and one could sense something special was about to happen.

One out later, Ketel Marte beat out an infield hit that he was initially ruled out on the field. He was ruled safe after review, plating the inning's first run and setting the stage for Perdomo's triple.

That ball was a rope into the right field corner that Fernando Tatis Jr. had trouble digging out. As the bases cleared and Perdomo headed into third, Chase Field was erupting into some of the loudest cheers heard all year.

Finally, Josh Naylor hit a little chopper, and Perdomo, who was not supposed to be running, made an instinctual play and beat the throw home, just barely. He actually wasn't supposed to be going, he was suppoed to "see the ball through", or not go until he saw the ball go through a drawn in infield.

Said Lovullo, "The Perdomo situation was a great read and a great slide. He was supposed to see the ball through. It's one of those things where you just have dumb luck every once in a while."

Before all the ninth inning heroics, it appeared to be a down night, as Zac Gallen and Ryan Thompson could not protect a lead.

For Gallen it was a tale of two outings. Other than a cutter up and in that got hit out of the park for a solo homer by Gavin Sheets, the D-backs right-hander was locked in and firing strikes. He got ahead to 12 of the first 14 batters with first pitch strikes and his pitch count was low.

And then suddenly his command left him, as he walked two batters with one out in the fifth. He got out of it with a strikeout and a nice play on a slower chopper to Eugenio Suárez. Gallen gave up a single and walked another batter in the sixth inning, but got out of that jam too.

At that point, Gallen had a 3-1 lead, thanks to a three-run homer from Suárez in the fourth inning. It was his 20th of the year, and brought his RBI total to 55.

Despite a pitch count just at 80, it seemed like a good time to pull Gallen. But Torey Lovullo opted to send him back out for the seventh. From the first pitch out of his hand, a fastball that was two feet wide for ball one, it was clear that it was a mistake. Sheets hit a leadoff double, Jake Cronenworth singled, and then Gallen issued his fourth walk of the game with one out to load the bases.

The next series of events seemed all too predictable. Thompson came in and gave up a two-run single to Fernando Tatis Jr. and a two-run double to Manny Machado. The Padres had jumped ahead 5-3.

The slow hook from the manager was both head-scratching and yet not surprising. Lovullo has seemingly had a tough time coming to grips with the fact that Gallen is no longer the pitcher he used to be. His 40 walks lead the National League and are the second-highest total in MLB. In 15 starts, he has a 5.19 ERA and 4.91 FIP. There can be no excuses. This is not bad luck.

Kevin Ginkel, pitching for the first time since being recalled from Triple-A Reno and gave up two runs, one earned in the top of the ninth, widening the Padres lead to 7-3. Josh Naylor made a fielding error in the inning.

Once again, one of the best offenses, and best "Late and Close" offenses, in Major League Baseball came to the rescue of their pitching staff.

With the win, the D-backs clinch the series victory and their record improves to 36-34. The Padres fall to 38-31, and Arizona claws to within 2.5 games of the third Wild Card spot.

Arizona goes for the sweep behind Merrill Kelly on Sunday. He'll be opposed by Nick Pivetta for the Padres. First pitch is 1:10 p.m. MST