PHOENIX -- Josh Naylor knew it was coming, so he started getting settled into the batter¡¯s box even before Randal Grichuk left it to take his free pass.
With left-hander Bryan Hudson on the mound and Grichuk -- who beats up lefties -- at the plate with first base open, it was a no-brainer for Brewers manager Pat Murphy to intentionally walk Grichuk. And while Murphy was relaying that to his catcher and the home-plate umpire, Naylor started getting settled into the left-handed batter¡¯s box.
Once Grichuk took first, Naylor had his approach set.
¡°See the ball in the middle of the plate and hit it hard through the middle of the field,¡± Naylor said. ¡°Or try to raise it into a gap.¡±
Naylor did hit it hard back up the middle for a single to drive home Corbin Carroll and give the D-backs their first lead of the game at 3-2.
Arizona would end up tacking on another two runs in the eighth for a 5-2 win and a series victory against the Brewers.
That the D-backs would be celebrating a series win seemed unthinkable Saturday night. They had lost Friday¡¯s opener, and they were trailing 4-0 with one out in the ninth before a five-run rally capped a comeback Saturday.
Their bats were similarly sluggish early Sunday as the Brewers rode a two-run homer by William Contreras to a 2-0 lead through four innings.
At that point, Brewers starter Freddy Peralta was cruising.
Tim Tawa scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and Arizona finally chased Peralta in the sixth when he allowed a single and a pair of walks to load the bases. Tawa then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at 2 and Naylor gave them the lead one inning later.
¡°We fight to the end,¡± Naylor said. ¡°This group, they¡¯re amazing. They don¡¯t take one pitch off, they don¡¯t take one inning off. It might not look like it¡¯s in our hands at the beginning of the game, but it¡¯s not over until the last out.¡±
That¡¯s a lesson the Brewers learned the hard way this weekend when they had a chance to beat co-aces Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen on back-to-back days only to drop both games.
¡°When you have the lead against two of the best pitchers in the game, you¡¯re expecting to get the win,¡± Peralta said. ¡°But sometimes things happen. The bullpen couldn¡¯t finish it, unfortunately, yesterday and today. Something I can tell you is we can probably get better from this. We¡¯re going to face a lot of good teams ahead, and they are a great team.¡±
The D-backs finished the homestand, which also included a visit by the Orioles, with a 4-2 mark. In both series, they lost the first game only to rally and win the next two.
They now head out on a six-game road trip to Miami and then Chicago to face the Cubs.
¡°It just was one thing after another,¡± Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of his team¡¯s approach. ¡°And I'm just proud of this team. They're very persistent, and they're very hungry. Even though we aren't playing our best baseball, we're getting very close. We're pushing in the right direction each and every day.¡±