David Peralta of the Arizona Diamondbacks, right, celebrates with Ketel Marte after a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego on Sunday, July 26, 2020. The Diamondbacks won 4-3. (AP Photo / Kelvin Kuo)
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ offense has been short-lived in three games, but it had enough in the eighth and ninth innings on Sunday to beat the San Diego Padres 4-3.
With the victory, the D-backs avoided a 0-3 start to the season against a division enemy and are instead 1-2.
Manager Torey Lovullo compared these early games between divisions in a 60-game season with a fight.
“We got hit by a couple of tedders. They dropped us for a couple of days in a row, so I was proud to get back on our feet, to be firmly in the middle of the ring, “he said in a Zoom call with the media after the game.
After the Padres led most of the game 1-0, the D-backs finally made two runs in the top of the eighth. San Diego quickly tied him in the bottom half of the inning.
Arizona managed to continue its offensive production in the ninth that hadn’t been there for the first 25 innings of the season.
Left fielder David Peralta said the team was more patient in the past two innings and had sorted out some of the funk that comes with the season’s first at-bats.
“You always want to get the first hit, and you want to get the job done, and sometimes you push yourself a little bit, but as soon as you get the first hit, you say ‘OK, there we go.'” he said. “It is normal, and we just have to control ourselves and control what we can do.”
With one out in ninth place, Ildemaro Vargas singled and Kevin Cron and Nick Ahmed walked against Kirby Yates, who had only 30 bases in the past two seasons combined.
That brought the top of the order and the leader Ketel Mars.
Mars hit a ball deep enough for Vargas to score and score the continuation run, and then Peralta took a base hit in the middle to take another home.
Only then did the D-backs take a two-run lead.
At the end of the ninth, Peralta made another impact play. Tommy Pham made a left-footed shot with one in and one out, but Peralta jumped to the exit.
“That’s why he has gold in his glove. It’s not always about how, it’s about how many, and that’s number 1 for us, “said Archie Bradley, who was closest for the first time this year.
That capture probably ended up saving the game.
The Padres’ next hitter hit an RBI double, but Bradley retired the next hitter to close all five outs and send the D-backs with his first win of the season.
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