Paul Sewald and the Diamondbacks Walked off by the Padres 10-8

Paul Sewald gave up two ninth inning homers, including a walk off two-run shot by Manny Machado, ending a wild 10-8 ballgame in Petco Park. What led up to that was full of twists and turns, highs and lows, but ultimately the Diamondbacks fell short in a game that leaves them with concerns and questions.

The Ninth Inning

The D-backs were down 7-2 going to the top of the ninth. They loaded the bases on singles by Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Gabriel Moreno, and a walk to Jake McCarthy. That forced Mike Shildt to bring in Closer Robert Suarez. Alek Thomas hit the first pitch he saw, a fastball up, and the ball flew over the right centerfield wall for a grand slam, bringing the score to within 7-6.

One out later Corbin Carroll doubled and Randal Grichuk was announced as the pinch hitter for Ketel Marte. Torey Lovullo said Marte is day to day with lower back tightness. This is a recurring issue for Marte.

Grichuk got a 2-2 fastball on the inner half and pulled it into the Western Metal supply building in left field for a two-run homer. That put the D-backs up 8-7 and it looked like they had just pulled off an incredible comeback.

The jubilation was short lived.

Jurickson Profar led off the bottom of the ninth and worked the count full against Sewald. The closer left a fastball over the middle and Profar knocked it over the wall to tie it up. Sewald, unable to locate his sweeper, then walked Jake Cronenworth.

That set up Machado, who got an 0-2 sweeper that caught too much of the inner half of the plate. Machado smashed that pitch on a line shot to left center ending the game and handing Sewald his second walk off loss of the week.

The First Eight Innings

Slade Cecconi had an outing that was all too familiar. Through three innings he had allowed just one run and two hits, and was holding a 2-1 lead, But as seems to happen almost every time he pitches, by the time he got to the fourth inning, the wheels fell off.

The Padres scored 4 runs with six hits in the inning to take a 5-2 lead. For Cecconi this was a continuation of a trend that he doesn't seem to be able to correct.

In our game preview I wrote about Cecconi's splits by inning. Here is that updated chart. From the third inning on teams simply figure him out, and he hasn't had any answers or been able to adjust.

Considering Cecconi's ability to get through one or two innings in dominating fashion, he may be best suited for the bullpen, at least for this year. Unfortunately the Diamondbacks have had their starting pitching depth stripped away by injury, and they just don't have many better options.

Lefty reliever Joe Jacques made his Diamondbacks debut, and got the final out of the 5th inning. He then proceeded to give up three hits in the sixth inning including a two-run homer by Kyle Higashioka. That gave their Padres a 7-2 lead at the time.

The game started well for Arizona when Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer in the top of the first off Padres Starter Randy Vasquez.

That was it for the Diamondbacks offense until the ninth inning however. From the second inning through the 8th they had just three singles and a walk. Vasquez ended up pitching into the 7th inning in one of his best starts of the year.

So what we are left with is a devastating loss for the Diamondbacks, breaking momentum coming off the Dodger series. Their All Star second baseman is day to day with what can only be described as a chronic back problem. Their closer is suddenly unreliable. And their young starter can't get over the hump in the middle innings.

With the loss the D-backs fall back to two games under .500 at 43-45. The Padres go to 49-43, strengthening their grip on the second Wild Card Spot. The D-backs are 3.5 games back of the 46-41 Cardinals and were even passed by the Giants tonight.

Tomorrow Brandon Pfaadt will try to right the ship and give Arizona some length in the rotation. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron goes for the Padres. First pitch is 6:40 P.M. PST.

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