Diamondbacks find a new, painful way to lose after walking 5 straight in the bottom of the 9th
Some say that there’s nothing new under the sun, but the Arizona Diamondbacks proved that old adage wrong on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, they proved it wrong by finding a new and extremely painful way to lose a baseball game.
The Diamondbacks were leading the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth at Dodger Stadium. Closer Greg Holland had gotten two quick outs, and needed just one more to sew up a win. They were so, so close, but that’s when everything came apart. Because Holland and reliever T.J. McFarland combined to walk five straight Dodgers batters.
A Walk to Remember? Try five. pic.twitter.com/YanjxDqaRS
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 3, 2019
It seemed like a little blip at first. After those two outs, Holland walked Chris Taylor on six pitches. But then Holland walked Russell Martin on seven pitches. Walking two with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth is not what you want your closer to be doing, so it was time for a mound visit.
It didn’t do much good, because Holland then walked Alex Verdugo. Now the bases were loaded and the Diamondbacks’ lead was hanging by its fingertips, but they didn’t pull Holland. He needed just one more out. He couldn’t possibly walk a fourth straight batter, could he?
He could, and he did. He walked in a run, which tied the game 4-4. The Diamondbacks finally pulled Holland and put McFarland on the mound to try and send the game to extra innings. McFarland needed just one out, and to not walk the next batter he faced.
So what did he do? He walked Cody Bellinger to score the winning run. The Dodgers, who were a single out from defeat, won 5-4 on five straight walks.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, a game hasn’t ended on five straight walks with no outs between those walks in the entire live-ball era, which began in 1920. The Diamondbacks found a new, demoralizing, excruciating way to lose a ball game. That’s probably something they’d rather be erased from the history books.
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