Venom Strikes
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Dbacks Avoid No Hitter, Lose in 10th

By Guillermo Salcido

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It was an absolute pitching duel on a Sunday afternoon. Atlanta flirted with a no hitter all afternoon. When that opportunity passed by, the Braves decided to pursue another form of baseball theatrics: The Walk-off Homerun. It was a 2-1 loss that will see Arizona drop the three game series in Atlanta.

The beginning of the game was rather eventful as both teams were able to put runners on base. Walks to Ender Inciarte and Aaron Hill started things on a positive note, but three straight outs and the early threat was contained. After the Braves stringed together a couple of hits in the bottom of the 1st, a double play extinguished their hopes for an early lead. The duel was on.

Although Arizona was shut down from that point (with the occasional walk), Atlanta kept knocking on the door each inning. In fact, the Braves had a runner on base in every single inning. However, it was in the 5th inning that they finally were able to break the scoreless tie. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, Rubby De La Rosa walked Shelby Miller, the opposing pitcher, to load up the bases. After a fielding miscue from Nick Ahmed, Atlanta left the inning with a 1-0 lead.

From then on, whispers of “no-hitter” became full blown conversations.

Finally, in the 8th inning, the Dbacks had reason to celebrate. First, Nick Ahmed started off the inning by breaking up the no hitter. Then, pinch hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled the Arizona hit total to put runners on 1st and 3rd. An RBI ground out by Inciarte knotted things up at 1. From then on it became a battle of the bullpens.

Rubby De La Rosa surrendered plenty of base runners (seven hits, four walks), but when it mattered, he only gave up one run to keep Arizona in the ball game. Shelby Miller was the talk of the afternoon with his no hit bid. However, by the end of his outing, he was also charged with a run and a no decision. Miller only gave up a couple of hits, but struck out an impressive ten hitters.

After a scoreless 9th, the game headed to extra innings. It turned out, the game only needed one more inning. With David Hernandez on the mound, Cameron Maybin ended things with one swing of the bat. His 9th homer of the season was the difference maker that sent the Braves faithful home happy.

Arizona (57-59) will head to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates to start next week.

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