The comeback kids did it again.
The Diamondbacks rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to walk off the Padres, 8-7, on Saturday night at Chase Field.
Josh Naylor drove in the game-winner with a tapper to first that allowed Geraldo Perdomo to come home from third, beating Luis Arraez’s throw to the plate.
As it turned out, with the Padres infield playing in, Perdomo was not supposed to be running unless the ball got through, but somehow, despite Arraez charging hard and throwing home, Perdomo was able to slide headfirst and get his hand in just ahead of the tag.
“It’s one of those things where you just have kind of dumb luck every once in a while,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after the game. “Had a great read on a ball to the first baseman that seems like he’s pretty agile, got to the ball quickly, but Perdomo beat him to the X and it was a great slide.”
The Padres led 7-3 heading into the ninth with closer Robert Suarez on the mound. The inning started with three straight singles to load the bases, and after Ketel Marte beat out an infield hit to cut the deficit to three, Perdomo tripled into the right-field corner, clearing the bases and tying the game.
“That’s why we get paid,” Perdomo told reporters after the game. “To come through in a situation like this. I just tried to get the ball over the plate, tried to have a good at-bat. Suarez has been one of the best closers in baseball and so I just tried to do my job -- seeing pitches and putting the ball in play.”
The Diamondbacks have made a habit of late-inning comebacks this year. Just under 10 days ago, Arizona trailed the Braves, 10-4, heading into the ninth inning in Atlanta, only to rally for an 11-10 win.
Saturday was the third time this season the Diamondbacks have come back from a deficit of four or more in the ninth to win. No other MLB team has had three such wins before the All-Star break since the All-Star Game began being played in 1933.
Even when they were winning 3-1 in the sixth inning, Perdomo had an inkling that it might come down to another walk-off.
“Sometimes I have that type of a feeling,” Perdomo said.
Then when the bottom of the ninth started, Perdomo saw another sign that another amazing finish might be in the works.
“In the bottom of the ninth when I sit close to Brandon [Pfaadt], he told me ‘Hey, you’re going to win the game for us.’” Perdomo said. “And I was smiling because I was thinking in the last three or four innings the same situation.”
The Padres led 5-3 heading into the ninth and added a pair of runs in the top half of the inning. During that rally, Lovullo was hoping that his team could keep things where they were so that the Padres would have to use Suarez and potentially make him unavailable for Sunday.
“We didn’t play a perfect top of the ninth inning,” Lovullo said. “You know what happened, but they bring their closer in the game and it’s a hit after hit after hit. And then at some point you’re like, ‘Wow, we could actually do this thing with the top of our lineup turning over.’”