Merrill Kelly’s gritty performance and timely power from Tim Tawa fueled a crucial Arizona Diamondbacks victory.
The Arizona Diamondbacks took down the Colorado Rockies 5-3, which narrowed the gap in this incredible National League Wild Card race.
The San Diego Padres jumped out to a one-game lead over the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, but losses from both the Cubs and Phillies helped the D-backs chances in a big way.
Arizona knows that at the very least, they have to be three games back of the Padres to have a fighting chance in the final series of the year.
If that would be the case, they know sweeping the Padres would get them into the playoffs over San Diego since their final three-game slate will decide who holds the season tiebreaker.
As for the Cubs and Phillies, Chicago has lost two straight and Philadelphia dropped its last game as well, so things are getting extremely interesting since the D-backs are only three games back with four games remaining.
Merrill Kelly nets his 10th win of the year
It hasn't been the most memorable season for Merrill Kelly, but he got the job done at Coors Field with the D-backs season basically on the line.
This team knows their best, and arguably the only shot to make the playoffs at this point is by winning out. They've done just that in each of their last four games, and that's something they need to continue through their next four as well.
Kelly threw 5.1 innings against the Rockies, giving up only two earned runs on four hits.
Three D-backs relievers earned holds in this one, and then Jonathan Loaisiga secured his second save of the year by slamming the door shut in a two-run game.
Tim Tawa homers, three-hit night for Gabriel Moreno
Offensive highlights from this one included ninth-hitter Tim Tawa staying hot. He added a huge insurance run in the top of the eighth inning as he crushed his 11th home run of the season.
As for Gabriel Moreno, the star catcher went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI in this one.
Despite Arizona striking out 10 times and not drawing a single walk, they were still able to get the job done in this one. Moreno had three of their eight hits, but it was Corbin Carroll who led the way as the only player with two RBIs on the night.
Diamondbacks ace Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound in the series finale, eyeing his 16th win of the season.
