BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – An RBI single from Nolan Arenado and three walks allowed the Arizona Diamondbacks to score twice in the 10th inning and avoid a three-game sweep by beating the host Boston Red Sox 7-6 on Wednesday.
After Arenado’s single drove in Gabriel Moreno to give the Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead, Boston left-hander Jovani Moran (2-3) walked the next three batters. The third walk he issued forced in pinch runner Max Kepler from third to make it 7-5.
Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela scored when Willson Contreras grounded out for the second out in the bottom of the 10th, but right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga (4-3) retired Caleb Durbin on a pop-up for the game’s final out.
The Red Sox received a three-run home run from Mickey Gasper, who also homered in Boston’s victories on Monday and Tuesday. Boston also hit two solo home runs, one by Nick Sogard and the other by Jarren Duran.
Lars Nootbaar slugged a pinch-hit, two-run home run for the Diamondbacks in the sixth inning. It was his fourth home run of the season, and his first since he was traded from St. Louis to Arizona on Aug. 3.
The Red Sox led 1-0 after Sogard homered on the Diamondbacks’ first pitch of the game. It was the first home run in the 93rd game of his MLB career and ended Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt’s streak of 33 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
Boston extended its lead to 2-0 when Duran hit his 17th home run of the season in the third. His home run also came on the first pitch of the inning.
Three doubles plus a walk allowed the Diamondbacks to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Arizona cut Boston’s lead in half on back-to-back doubles from Jose Fernandez and Ryan Waldschmidt. After Corbin Carroll walked with two outs, Moreno came up with a two-run double that drove in Waldschmidt and Carroll.
Nootbaar’s home run pushed Arizona’s lead to 5-2 in the sixth, but Gasper’s three-run homer against Pfaadt tied the game, 5-5, in the bottom half of the inning. Pfaadt was replaced by right-hander Juan Morillo, who coaxed the final out of the stanza.
–Field Level Media