Diamondbacks stage epic comeback but fall to Padres in bottom of 9th

SAN DIEGO — After depositing the ball a few rows deep in left-center field, Manny Machado slapped hands with his San Diego Padres teammates, many of whom had poured onto the field, and what was left of a record crowd at Petco Park erupted in delirium.

Only minutes earlier, the Diamondbacks had been celebrating their own incredible heroics. Now they could only walk slowly toward the visitors’ dugout, their eyes trained on the ground.

In the span of less than half an hour Friday night, the Diamondbacks went from a certain loss to a likely win to a backbreaking defeat, an emotional roller coaster that took place entirely within the ninth inning. Their 10-8 loss to the Padres could have gone down as their best win of the year. Instead, it might be their most crushing.

“You go from low to as high you can possibly imagine and then as low as you can feel at the end of the night,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “That’s the beauty of this game. It will do that to you. We’re all kind of used to it, in some ways addicted to it.

“We have nothing to hang our heads for. We fought as hard as we can fight and we’ll continue to.”

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Making matters worse, the Diamondbacks might also might have lost second baseman Ketel Marte to an injury. Marte exited the game in the top of the ninth inning with what the team later said was lower back tightness. Lovullo said Marte is day-to-day, but it is an injury that has bothered Marte off and on for the past month.

The Diamondbacks scored six times in the top of the ninth, getting a grand slam from Alek Thomas and a two-run homer from Randal Grichuk as they turned a 7-2 deficit into an 8-7 lead. Both homers came off Padres closer Robert Suarez, who has been about as good as any reliever in baseball through the first half of the season.

But Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald fared no better, giving up a game-tying, leadoff homer to Jurickson Profar to open the ninth, then serving up Machado’s walk-off, two-run blast two batters later.

The blown save was Sewald’s second of the road trip. He also gave up a lead Tuesday night in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers got doubles from Will Smith and Freddie Freeman ahead of Teoscar Hernandez’s walk-off single.

“He’ll be fine,” Lovullo said of Sewald, who declined comment through a team spokesman. “He’s been battle-tested. He’s had some unbelievable moments for us to this point in the season. He’s a closer – that type of stuff happens. It happened to their closer tonight, one of the best in the game.”

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the ninth, prompting the Padres to call on Suarez, but Thomas blasted the first pitch he saw out to right-center for the first grand slam of his career.

“Just looking at the scouting report, it looked like he was a heavy fastball guy and I knew that he throws pretty hard,” Thomas said. “For me it was about trying to get a good pitch that I could drive and it happened to be the first pitch. I put a good swing on it. It felt really good.”

After Corbin Carroll doubled with two outs to put the tying run on base, Grichuk was sent to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Marte. After yanking a 1-1 fastball foul down the left-field line, Grichuk said he had an idea what might come next.

“I kind of figured he’d go soft,” Grichuk said. “I was able to lay off the pitch before, and at that point I’m in a 2-2 battle and, luckily, I got a pitch up and was able to drive it.”

Grichuk launched the changeup from Suarez out to left field, causing Diamondbacks players to practically climb over each other on their way out of the dugout in celebration. The good vibes turned out to be short-lived.

“That’s kind of like life, man,” Thomas said. “You start off kind of tough, you’re grinding through the game, down to your last bit of hope in the game, and then things turn. You just got to keep on going. That’s baseball and that’s life, too.”

On Wednesday night, the Diamondbacks rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win, 12-4. It would have been their second consecutive comeback win had Sewald not blown Tuesday’s game. Friday night’s could have been their third. For a team that, prior to this week, had come back from a multi-run deficit only once this year, it feels like a notable reversal for the Diamondbacks’ offense.

“I think the guys are putting together good at-bats back-to-back, not trying to do too much,” Grichuk said. “Taking their walks, taking the extra base, taking a single when it’s needed.

"We’ve been able to do it lately, and that’s just a testament to the guys preparing and being in the moment and ready to pass the baton to the next guy. We haven’t (done that) all season but hopefully we can (do that) more moving forward.”

Prospect Yilber Diaz could join Arizona rotation

SAN DIEGO — The Diamondbacks have not yet settled on a starter for their series opener on Monday against the Atlanta Braves, but indications are prospect Yilber Diaz is drawing strong consideration for the role.

The open spot is the one that belonged to left-hander Jordan Montgomery before he landed on the disabled list with right knee inflammation earlier this week.

Right-hander Cristian Mena was given the first crack at the job but gave up four runs in three innings against the Dodgers on Wednesday night and was sent back down to Triple-A Reno to make room for another bullpen arm, lefty Joe Jacques.

Diaz, 23, has logged a 4.03 ERA in 22 starts split between Reno and Double-A Amarillo. Diaz has thrown 76 innings, walking 38 with 105 strikeouts. He owns a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and approaches triple digits. His slider is a true swing-and-miss offering while his curveball acts as a sort of offspeed pitch.

Most evaluators, including several with the Diamondbacks, had pegged Diaz as a likely bullpen arm, but he has shown significant improvement this year with his strike-throwing ability, enough to warrant continued opportunities to start.

Diaz ranked as the club's 15th-best prospect in Baseball America's latest Top 30 list.

As for Montgomery, he is expected to throw a flatground session on Saturday so long as his knee continues to improve, manager Torey Lovullo said. The club is hopeful Montgomery could return shortly after the All-Star break.

Lovullo said he had not yet heard the results of left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez’s scheduled MRI from Friday. Assuming it looks good, Rodriguez could “throw his first flatground really quick,” Lovullo said.

Right-hander Merrill Kelly also was expected to throw his first flatground on Saturday, meaning he and Rodriguez could be on similar tracks as they point toward returns from the IL.

Saturday’s Diamondbacks-Padres pitching matchup

Diamondbacks at Padres, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-6, 4.28) vs. Padres RHP Matt Waldron (5-7, 3.56).

At Petco Park: Pfaadt turned in a sharp performance against the Oakland Athletics in his most recent start, firing six innings and giving up just one run on five hits and two walks, striking out eight. … The strikeouts were a welcome return to form; the previous two outings Pfaadt had struck out just two batters over 12 2/3 innings. … In four career starts against the Padres, Pfaadt has posted a 4.13 ERA with six walks and 22 strikeouts in 24 innings. … Waldron owned a 5.82 ERA through seven starts but he has logged a 2.26 ERA over his next 10. However, he was a little shaky in his most recent outing, giving up four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. … He faced the Diamondbacks on June 8, giving up just one run in six innings. … Waldron is the rare knuckleballer, a pitch he throws 77.4 percent of the time. He also has a pair of fastballs , both around 90 mph, and a breaking ball.

Coming up

Sunday: At San Diego, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (5-6, 5.42) vs. Padres RHP Dylan Cease (7-7, 4.24).

Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Braves TBA.

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (6-4, 3.06) vs. Braves LHP Chris Sale (11-3, 2.71).