Pavin Smith’s dramatic ninth-inning blast keeps the Arizona Diamondbacks postseason hopes alive.
After the events of Saturday, Sept. 19, the Arizona Diamondbacks are one of four teams fighting for three National League Wild Card spots.
Every other team in the NL has been eliminated, so it's officially down to the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and Philadelphia Phillies.
The D-backs shocked the world as Pavin Smith played hero in Saturday night's ballgame.
Arizona defeated the New York Yankees, 5-3, thanks to a walk-off homer from Smith in the bottom of the ninth.
Now, the D-backs are four games back of the Phillies, a team they never thought they'd be competing with until this very moment.
Heading into Sunday, Sept. 20, the Cubs and Padres have a one-game lead on Philadelphia. With only seven games remaining, the Diamondbacks are mathematically the only other team in the NL that could make the playoffs.
Smith delivers the biggest hit of his life
Diamondbacks fans thought the Pavin Smith experiment had ended a long time ago, but the team decided to bring back someone who was hitting just .141 through July 8.
Since his return to the lineup on Sept. 12, Smith has been hitting .333 in a relatively limited sample size.
Manager Torey Lovullo took a huge risk by having him pinch-hit in the ninth, but the lefty came up with the biggest hit of his life.
A loss would've been detrimental to this team's postseason aspirations, but now, they still have life. Taking down the Yankees was step one, and while they don't necessarily need to win out to make the playoffs, it sure would help.
Momentum is a real thing in the world of baseball, and Smith may have single-handedly turned the D-backs season around with his one-on, one-out blast off of Michael Fulmer that sent Chase Field into a frenzy.
Smith has a 1.133 OPS since his return
To put things into perspective, Smith had an OPS of .250 during his 16 at-bats in the month of July. A few months later, he's slashing .333/.333/.800 with an OPS of 1.133 in 15 at-bats.
Obviously, no one expects that to be sustainable, but for now, the Florida native is doing everything in his power to earn a spot on the playoff roster, should that end up being a reality.
Smith drove in two of the five runs against New York, with the other RBIs belonging to Corbin Carroll and Jordan Lawler.
