Sparked by Murphy’s tying homer in the 9th, Braves rally for 5-4 win over D-backs in 11 innings
Sparked by Murphy’s tying homer in the 9th, Braves rally for 5-4 win over D-backs in 11 innings
PHOENIX (AP) — Sean Murphy hit a tying homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Marcell Ozuna drove in the decisive run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Monday night for their third straight victory.
Matt Olson led off the 11th with an infield single, moving automatic runner Austin Riley to third. Riley scored on Ozuna’s sac fly for a 5-4 lead.
Murphy tied it 3-all with a two-run shot off closer Paul Sewald that easily cleared the right-center fence. Sewald retired the first two batters in the ninth before Eddie Rosario singled.
“You’re just trying to get your best swing off, keep the line moving,” Murphy said. “I hit the homer, but the idea is just to get the next guy up and see what happens. It went my way and left the ballpark.”
Rosario was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day. The veteran outfielder recently signed with the Braves after being released by the Nationals. He was batting .183 with seven homers for Washington this season.
It was Sewald’s third consecutive blown save after converting his first 11 opportunities this year.
“You’ve just got to finish the inning,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He made some really good pitches to get to that position and then a couple mistakes. A couple things went wrong and good teams will capitalize on that.
“I’m still shaking my head — a two-out homer doesn’t happen very often,” he added. “But it’s been happening to us a little lately.”
The teams traded runs in the 10th on sacrifice flies by Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies and Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo.
Raisel Iglesias (1-1) got the win with two hitless innings of relief. Joe Jiménez worked a scoreless 11th for his second save.
“I thought the bullpen guys did a great job of holding them in check,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s a good win to get.”
Justin Martinez (3-1) took the loss as the defending National League champion Diamondbacks fell to 45-46. They haven’t been above .500 since April 3.
Arizona took a 3-1 lead into the ninth after scoring three runs in the sixth. Corbin Carroll tied the game with a bouncing single through the infield that scored Perdomo from second. Christian Walker drew a walk with the bases loaded and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Riley gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the first with a 430-foot homer to center. It was the third baseman’s 12th of the season.
That was the only damage the Braves could muster against Arizona starter Yilber Diaz in his big league debut. The hard-throwing Venezuelan showed his potential with a fastball that touched 98 mph and good off-speed command. He gave up one run on four hits and a walk over six innings, striking out five.
Diaz became the 11th starting pitcher this season for the D-backs, who have fought injuries on the mound all year.
Braves starter Bryce Elder pitched five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out one.
Olson made a stellar defensive play in the sixth that likely saved a run. The first baseman made a sliding catch on a ball over his head in foul territory and then wheeled to throw, stopping Joc Pederson from tagging up and scoring from third.
Atlanta juggled its pitching rotation after bringing up Elder from Triple-A on Monday. Veteran lefty Chris Sale — selected to his eighth All-Star team Sunday — was moved back a day to Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Sale (11-3, 2.71 ERA) starts against Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (6-4, 3.06).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
By DAVID BRANDT
AP Baseball Writer
