Arizona Diamondbacks

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

FENWAY – (Wire Service Report) – Something has to give when one of the hottest pitchers in all of Major League Baseball faces a smoldering hot Boston offense in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale between the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks and Red Sox.

Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (7-1, 3.11 ERA) has allowed no earned runs in his last four starts. He’ll be facing a Boston team that has scored 20 runs on 29 hits in the first two games of the series. The Red Sox prevailed 11-1 Monday and 9-4 Tuesday.

Pfaadt began the season in Arizona’s starting rotation, but was moved to the bullpen after three starts. He was optioned to Triple-A Reno on June 3, when he had a 5.92 ERA.

In nine starts since being recalled on June 30, Pfaadt is 7-0 with a 1.15 ERA. He’ll enter Wednesday’s game having pitched the last 33 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.

“I wish I could tell you what the magic potion was because I’d give it to everybody,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said after Pfaadt got the win in a 2-0 victory over Atlanta on Friday. “It’s work ethic and it’s confidence that’s continuing to develop every single day.”

Pfaadt is 1-1 with a 5.59 ERA in two career starts against Boston, which will have left-hander Payton Tolle (8-6, 2.97) on the mound. Tolle, who is in his rookie season, is 0-1 with a 15.00 ERA in one career start against Arizona, giving up five runs over three innings in his second career start last September.

Boston will be seeking its first series sweep since it won three straight against the Chicago White Sox from Aug. 4-6. The Red Sox lost series against the Athletics, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Pittsburgh Pirates before their bats came alive against the Diamondbacks. Boston has scored in 11 of the 16 innings they’ve batted in so far in this series.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was 1-for-17 with an infield single, five walks and nine strikeouts in his first six games after Baltimore traded him to Boston, but has four hits in the first two games of the series. He had a solo home run and a two-run single during Tuesday’s win, which improved Boston’s record at Fenway Park to 14-4 since the All-Star Break. The Red Sox are 31-31 at home this season.

“We said that early on when it wasn’t going well that we’re going to have to get things turned around here, turn the season,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “So actually, to go on the road — not that we wanted to lose games on the road — but have some struggles on the road and then be able to come back and immediately flip the switch and look like, ‘All right, now this looks like home cooking and we enjoy playing here.’ That’s a really good sign to protect our home turf. So that’s been welcome, and it was needed.”

Arizona has played both games against Boston without second baseman Ketel Marte, who was placed on the restricted list after he didn’t show up to the field on Monday. Marte returned to Arizona Tuesday to have an MRI on his left knee.

“That’s what I’ve been told, but overall my focus has shifted,” Lovullo said. “My focus (Monday) was squarely on this topic, but right now, it’s on the 26 players that are inside of the clubhouse.”

–Field Level Media

BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Mickey Gasper and Willson Contreras each hit a solo home run as part of a 16-hit attack that propelled the Red Sox to an 11-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.

Caleb Durbin and Ceddanne Rafaela each collected three hits for the Red Sox, who received two RBIs from both Gasper and Wilyer Abreu.

Boston’s Brayan Bello (5-6) held the Diamondbacks to one run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of relief to collect the win. Arizona starter Mitch Bratt (1-2) allowed three runs on four hits in three innings.

The Diamondbacks placed second baseman Ketel Marte on the restricted list before the game. The team did not give a reason for the move, but multiple outlets reported that Marte did not show up to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Eli White that drove in Durbin and a Nick Sogard double that scored White.

It was 3-0 after Durbin drove in Contreras with a single in the third, and the Red Sox took a 4-0 lead when Sogard scored on a Rafaela double in the fourth.

Boston added three more runs to extend its advantage to 7-0 in the fifth.

Contreras led off with his 25th home run of the season. Adley Rutschman scored on Andruw Monasterio’s sacrifice fly and Durbin came home on Gasper’s groundout. Two of the three runs were unearned, as the Diamondbacks committed two errors in the outfield after the homer.

Ildemaro Vargas scored on Geraldo Perdomo’s sac fly to make it 7-1 in the top of the sixth, but Boston responded by scoring twice in the bottom half of the inning. Abreu’s single drove in Rafaela, and Abreu stretched the lead to 9-1 by scoring on a Rutschman double.

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – It was only one run, but when Boston’s DH Masataka Yoshida tried to stretch a stand-up double into a triple and was thrown out by seven feet, it stopped the Red Sox rally to be.

Aside from the inexcusable Little League level mistake, the poor base-running with none out and a four run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning seemed harmless even when Sox catcher Connor Wong doubled immediately after the miscue. But, the damage was done, as Yoshida was the rally killer.

Two innings later, Arizona’s 3B Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run home run to help the visiting Diamondbacks take a 6-4 lead which led the Diamondbacks to complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 7-5 victory Sunday. The win extended Arizona’s winning streak to seven.

The Diamondbacks trailed 4-3 until Suarez hit his 20th home run of the season in the sixth against Boston starter Tanner Houck. Suarez, who had four hits Sunday, collected eight hits and 10 RBIs in the series.

The Diamondbacks also received a solo home run from Geraldo Perdomo (No. 3 of the year) in the ninth as the victory stretched Arizona’s winning streak to six games. All six victories have come on the road.

Houck (8-9) allowed six runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out two. Boston is winless in Houck’s last seven starts.

Triston Casas, Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill each homered for Boston, which led 4-0 after four innings.

Casas, who struck out four times in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to Arizona, hit a solo home run in the first inning, Devers hit a three-run homer in the fourth and O’Neill struck for a solo home run against Justin Martinez in the ninth. Devers’ home run was the 200th of his major league career.

After allowing the home run to O’Neill, Martinez retired the next three batters to collect his sixth save.

Arizona starter Merrill Kelly (4-0) earned the win despite allowing Boston’s first two home runs. He gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings and recorded five strikeouts.

The homers by Casas (No. 8) and Devers (No. 28) handed Boston a 4-0 lead, but Arizona scored three times in the fifth. Adrian Del Castillo scored on Perdomo’s bases-loaded groundout, Suarez scored on Corbin Carroll’s sacrifice fly and then Jake McCarthy’s RBI single drove in Luis Guillorme to make it a 4-3 game.

Pavin Smith singled and Del Castillo walked before Suarez belted the three-run homer that put the Diamondbacks in front 6-4. Perdomo’s home run extended the lead to 7-4 before O’Neill’s 23rd homer capped the scoring.

Boston, now on a three-game losing skid, slipped to 29-35 at home.

–Field Level Media

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The visiting Arizona Diamondbacks can complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a victory Sunday. Arizona won the opener, 12-2, on Friday night and posted a 4-1 victory on Saturday. The Diamondbacks enter Sunday’s matchup on a five-game winning streak, all on the road.

 

Saturday’s win gave the Diamondbacks their 11th series victory in the last 12 tries. The only exception came last weekend, when Tampa Bay swept a three-game series as Arizona began its nine-game trip. The Diamondbacks are 25-8 since the All-Star break.

Arizona’s starting pitchers — Ryne Nelson on Friday and Zac Gallen on Saturday — combined to allow two runs on seven hits in 12 innings.

“Those guys (the Diamondbacks) are really good,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “What they do is not just against us — it’s against everybody. It’s a different type of pitching, too. Different angles, they change speeds, they don’t give in. You have to be very stubborn in the zone.

“They’re really good at what they do. They’re probably one of the best teams in the big leagues right now. They’re athletic, they run the bases well, they put good at-bats — it’s a complete team.”

Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez has four hits and seven RBIs in the series. He collected five RBIs — including a grand slam — on Friday and had a two-run double in Saturday’s win.

Boston’s pitchers walked six on Saturday, including four in the seventh when Arizona scored two runs without getting a hit.

“When the pitcher has good stuff or he’s attacking and we’re not getting hits, I think our patience will pay off,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’re going to get some baserunners and create some run-scoring opportunities. That’s what we did today.”

A walk forced in the first run in the seventh, and the second scored on a wild pitch by Brennan Bernardino.

“At this level we cannot do that, obviously,” Cora said. “We had the right matchups. It just didn’t work out.”

Sunday’s pitching matchup has Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly (3-0, 3.63 ERA) facing Boston righty Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.01).

Kelly has made two starts since returning from the 60-day injured list with a shoulder injury. He gave up two runs in five innings to beat the Phillies in the first start, then allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings during an 8-7 loss to Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg on Aug. 18.

Kelly has faced the Red Sox twice in his career and has a 1-1 record with a 1.26 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings against Boston, and struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox last season.

Houck has made three straight quality starts, and gave up three runs (two earned) in six innings of a 5-4 loss to Houston on Monday. He made his only career start against Arizona last season — opposing Kelly in that 10-strikeout game — and took a loss after surrendering four runs on six hits in four innings. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo each homered against Houck.

The Red Sox are expecting outfielder Tyler O’Neill to play Sunday after he missed the last three games because of a swollen finger on his left hand.

“He should be in the lineup,” Cora said.

–Field Level Media

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Arizona Diamondbacks will attempt to extend their winning streak to five games Saturday afternoon when they face the host Boston Red Sox in the middle contest of a three-game series.

Arizona entered the series having scored the most runs in the majors and showed why during a 12-2 triumph on Friday. The Diamondbacks collected 16 hits in the victory, including a grand slam by Eugenio Suarez that put Arizona in front 9-2 in the seventh inning.

It was the majors-best ninth grand slam hit by Arizona this season and the fifth that Suarez has belted during his 11-year major league career.

“Cutter in the middle of the zone,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “He’s a dead-pull hitter, and he’s gonna look to do damage with something close to him. He got a cutter in the middle, and he didn’t miss it.

“He’s one of these guys that you look at the numbers … average and all that stuff he’s not usually up there, but RBIs — that’s what he does. He got a good pitch to hit and drove it.”

Suarez and Josh Bell each had three hits in the win. Suarez also scored three times and had five RBIs.

Ryne Nelson pitched six innings to earn the win. This came hours after Arizona manager Torey Lovullo announced that Nelson would remain in the rotation and Jordan Montgomery would move to the bullpen.