The Arizona Diamondbacks showed up on both sides of the ball against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks secured a commanding 10-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday at Chase Field in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks need to beat the Padres on Thursday to win the four-game series, and this victory demonstrated a couple of things. Let’s review them:
Offense shows up
In Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to San Diego, Arizona’s offense was not in the same realm as its opponent’s.
The Diamondbacks notched only six hits in 32 at-bats in the loss, while the Padres logged 16. However, the script flipped on Wednesday, and Arizona delivered a haymaker in response.
The Diamondbacks notched 15 hits in the win and drew four walks. Conversely, the Padres only logged three hits in 30 at-bats.
Diamondbacks third baseman Tim Tawa had three hits in four at-bats, which included a home run in the bottom of the third. Second baseman Ildemaro Vargas contributed a game-high four RBIs, and rookie center fielder Ryan Waldschmidt also went 3-for-4 at the plate.
Moreover, newly acquired left fielder Lars Nootbaar got his first hit and RBI in a Diamondbacks jersey after they acquired him in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
Arizona’s batting order has produced explosive outings like this before, and it usually begets favorable results. Only two of its 10 hitters who stepped up to the plate on Wednesday did not log a hit, and when that type of production is surging across the batting order, this becomes a hard team to beat.
Bratt’s big night
Quality pitching has been few and far between for the Diamondbacks this season, but rookie left-hander Mitch Bratt showed up in a big way during Wednesday’s win.
The 23-year-old went the distance and struck out a career-high nine batters while allowing just one hit over seven innings of work. The only blemish on Bratt's final line was three walks, but the fact that he struck out as many batters in one outing as he did throughout July is impressive and demonstrates growth.
Bratt’s dominance was needed because the bullpen had a bit of a meltdown in the top of the ninth inning when Kevin Ginkel allowed four earned runs (one home run), two hits and two walks, which compelled manager Torey Lovullo to take him off the mound in favor of Paul Sewald.
Had Bratt not been as sharp as he was while the offense was rolling, this game could have had a different outcome. Instead, the Diamondbacks are now 61-54 and occupy second place in the National League Wild Card standings.
