Diamondbacks fall to Giants 5-4 in extra innings walkoff
By Trisha Garcia
Behind what started as a solid outing from Taijuan Walker, the Arizona Diamondbacks fell 5-4 to the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings.
The winning hit came off the batt of Jarrett Parker after Denard Span led off the bottom of the tenth inning with a double.
Walker pitched six scoreless innings, but his start fell apart in the seventh when Pablo Sandoval doubled to lead off the inning, followed by a double off of Parker to drive in a run.
With a 4-1 lead, Walker stayed in the game only to give up a two-run homer to Hunter Pence in the next at-bat.
The Diamondbacks had a chance to take the lead in the ninth inning, with back-to-back two-out singles from Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez. A walk to Chris Herrmann loaded the bases, but Marte stranded all three runners.
However, the offense provided Taijuan Walker with the run support that he had lacked in previous starts, earning four runs in six innings. Walker responded by keeping the Giants scoreless through those six innings.
Despite previously combining for three scoreless innings in Friday’s game, the Diamondbacks bullpen gave up the tie to give Walker the no decision and the walkoff to give T.J. McFarland the loss.
The tie was a result of Kelby Tomlinson scoring on a double-play ground from Buster Posey off of relief pitcher David Hernandez.
Both Tomlinson and Pence have had success against the Diamondbacks in this series. Pence is 3-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored, while Tomlinson is 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Nick Hundley, the former Arizona Wildcat, didn’t contribute to the final score, he was a thorn in the Diamondbacks hip, going 3-for-4.
Unfortunately, the loss continues Walker’s winless streak. Walker hasn’t won a game since June 21, since then he has pitched in three losses and four no decisions.
With the Colorado Rockies beating the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 today, the Diamondbacks have officially fallen to the second Wild Card spot.
The Diamondbacks will look to take the series win and close out the road trip on Sunday. Patrick Corbin will start against Jeff Samardzija; first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.