Diamondbacks Waste Opportunity in Devastating Meltdown

The Arizona Diamondbacks fell to the Minnesota Twins on the road in their series opener by a score of 9-8 on Friday on the same night the New York Mets lost, squandering one of the few remaining chances to gain ground in the Wild Card standings.

Arizona worked a miraculous ninth-inning comeback, scoring four runs to take an 8-6 lead, but a brutal ninth inning by Jake Woodford and Andrew Saalfrank led to devastating walk-off defeat.

Woodford gave up a leadoff homer to Kody Clemens, his third of the game, and then proceeded to load the bases without recording an out. Saalfrank came on to walk in the tying run and then allow a sacrifice fly to center for the game winner.

The D-backs' playoff hopes, already close to zero, cannot withstand a series loss to a Twins club nearly 20 games below .500. Unfortunately, Arizona could not handle business in the opener.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Brandon Pfaadt Struggles Again

Pitching on the road has been a struggle for the right-hander, and that was no different Friday. Pfaadt completed just 4.2 innings, giving up nine base hits and one walk. He allowed five total earned runs, including two homers, and struck out only two batters.

Pfaadt began his outing with two scoreless innings, then surrendered a solo home run in the third. He then loaded the bases without getting an out to open the fourth.

He got some help from his defense, as a sacrifice fly, as Matt Wallner was thrown out at second base. But with two outs and one runner on, Pfaadt gave up his second homer of the night — a two-run blast to Kody Clemens.

Pfaadt has now given up 24 home runs in his 30 starts this season. His tendency to leave balls over the plate hurt him once again, as his ERA rises to 5.31 on the year.

After an RBI groundout in the fifth, left-hander Kyle Backhus relieved Pfaadt. Backhus ended the innings scoreless, but gave up an RBI double in the sixth, spotting the Twins a 6-2 lead.

Ryan Thompson collected the final two outs of the sixth, and Brandyn Garcia threw a scoreless seventh. Jalen Beeks threw a scoreless eighth.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Offense Comes up Short vs Twins

Arizona's offense got started early, but had a difficult time putting together innings against Pablo Lopez. Geraldo Perdomo walked to lead off the game, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before Corbin Carroll singled him home for the 1-0 lead in the first.

That would be the D-backs' only lead of the night. Facing a 4-1 deficit, Arizona worked a walk and two singles in the fifth, but only managed one run off the bat of Gabriel Moreno.

Perdomo then crushed his 19th homer of the season in the seventh — a two-run shot to pull to 6-4. The D-backs would not score in the final two frames.

Perdomo finished 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Each of the D-backs' top four hitters had a base hit. Jordan Lawlar had a sharp double as he continues to hit the ball hard at the major league level.

Tim Tawa doubled to begin the ninth, then Perdomo was hit by a pitch. Carroll hit an RBI single, then Moreno crushed a three-run homer to make it 8-6, a lead that would not last.

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