ATLANTA -- The word “quit” was not in the Diamondbacks’ vocabulary on Thursday.
Down 10-4 with one out in the ninth inning, Arizona scored seven runs for an 11-10 win and the sweep of the Braves at Truist Park.
Arizona was down 6-0 after three innings and 9-3 after seven innings, and the Braves had a 99.9 percent win probability entering the top of the ninth. Prior to Thursday, the D-backs were 0-419 in games in which they were down by six or more runs after the completion of eight innings.
When Eugenio Suárez struck out to lead off the frame, it looked as though the Braves were going to avoid the sweep.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a solo home run, Tim Tawa walked, Alek Thomas hit a two-run home run, Jose Herrera walked, Corbin Carroll doubled and Ketel Marte tallied an RBI single before Ildemaro Vargas hit an RBI single to set the table for Suárez.
Suárez, in his second at-bat of the inning, hit the game-winning two-run double to help the D-backs to their fourth win in a row.
“I feel like we are so good right now,” Suárez said. “We’re playing good baseball, and we have good energy. We understand this game is not finished [until you] play 27 outs. That was our game. That ninth inning tells how we play this game. We’re never [going to] give up. We [started] building onto the inning like that [with a home run and] a walk and a homer again and a walk again. You start to have really good at-bats against tough pitching.”
“This team is dynamic, and I feel like we’re never out of any game,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We just never know when that rally is [going to] start -- who, where and when.”
Atlanta had won its last 766 games when leading by at least six runs after eight innings, with the club’s last such loss coming July 17, 1973, against the Mets. In that game, the Braves entered the ninth inning with a 7-1 lead and lost 8-7.
“I was like a proud dad watching a bunch of Little Leaguers go out there and get the job done,” Lovullo said. “That’s what I can honestly say I felt in the dugout. You’re hanging on and hoping they turn things around, and they did it with one at-bat after another. Gurriel with the home run just seemed to give us some energy, and all the sudden, you have [Suárez], one of our top run producers, in the box with the tying run on base, and he comes through. It was a magical moment for this team.”
Atlanta reliever Scott Blewett, who entered in the eighth, and closer Raisel Iglesias were the victims of the comeback. Blewett allowed five runs on three hits, and Iglesias gave up three runs on four hits in the blown save.
Suárez faced both relievers in the ninth. Suárez struck out on a Blewett slider that was below the zone and doubled on Iglesias’ inside changeup in his second at-bat of the inning.
“They pitched me tough today,” Suárez said. “The whole series they pitched me tough. I started that inning with a strikeout. I was a little bit mad in the dugout thinking about chase and sliders and all that stuff. When you see your teammates building on like that, I said, ‘I might get another [at-bat].’ Iglesias, I know how he pitches. I know his stuff. I was just looking for something right there and not [trying] to do too much and don’t try to be a big hero, just put a ball in play. Thank God I hit a double down the line, and we won the game.”
It was Suárez’s second career hit against Iglesias. His first was on April 26, when he hit his fourth home run of the game in an 8-7 loss.
Thomas’ ninth-inning home run, his second hit of the game, cut Atlanta’s lead to 10-7. He hit it on an 0-2 slider.
“[Blewett] threw a high heater that I check swung on, and I was like, ‘Dang, that’s not good,’” Thomas said. “Then he threw a [splitter for strike two] and I was like, ‘Dang, that was [a good pitch] too. I don’t know what he’s [going to] throw now, but I’m going to be ready for it.’ I stayed back and had a good swing on it.”
Reliever Shelby Miller came on in the bottom of the ninth. After he walked Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna hit into a game-ending double play, and Miller tallied his sixth save of the season.
“Shelby was on call,” Lovullo said. “We just felt like, had we tied the score or gone ahead, Shelby knew in plenty of time that he was [going to] get himself ready to go out and compete against the meat of their lineup.”