The Diamondbacks are attempting to pull off a miracle in the stretch run of 2025. They are a baseball team trying to turn a horror story into a fairy tale.
Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Giants proved the nightmares aren’t over just yet.
What a waste. What a shame.
The Diamondbacks squandered a brilliant effort from Brandon Pfaadt, who pitched nine innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. He held a no-hitter for 5.1 innings. On cue, he looked like the big game hunter who wouldn’t flinch during the postseason of 2023.
With all due respect to Justin Verlander, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was nearly as dominant for the Giants, this is the kind of game the Diamondbacks cannot lose.
But they did.
They lost the game after failing to convert a pair of golden chances. Twice, they had the winning run on third base with less than two outs and came up empty.
Inside Chase Field, the disappointment was both nauseating and profound.
The first big letdown came after Corbin Carroll’s one-out triple in the ninth inning. The announced crowd on Wednesday was only 19,513, but you should’ve heard the building shake when Carroll stood up safely on third base.
Pound for pound, it was the most electrifying triple since Archie Bradley’s heroic moment against the Rockies in the 2017 playoffs. Following a walk and a hit-by-pitch, the bases were suddenly loaded, and bedlam was on deck.
Instead of blowing the roof off Chase Field, the Diamondbacks followed with two terrible at-bats. Adrian Del Castillo struck out looking, a Cardinal sin for a pinch-hitter; and Alek Thomas grounded out on a swinging bunt. Yuck.
Same in the 10th inning when Jake McCarthy couldn’t plate the winning run from third base with one out, and the Giants quickly pounced.
The Diamondbacks were not eliminated on Wednesday. But the magic seemed to dissipate.
They wasted an enormous opportunity to post the kind of victory that would’ve filled the Valley with hysteria and hope. Instead, they were once again felled by their longstanding inability to produce with runners in scoring position.
This is all so surreal. The day began with postseason contingency plans, when Lovullo announced he would deploy a four-man rotation over the final nine games, and that Zac Gallen would be poised to start Game 1 of the playoffs, if necessary. It was enough to make the pulse quicken.
Alas, the day ended with an oomph and ugh and a thud, the kind of loss that will be very difficult to overcome.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM and the Arizona Sports app.
