The Arizona Diamondbacks (84-76) magic number to punch a postseason ticket will remain at one as they came up short Friday night in a tough 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros (88-72).
With a win Friday, the D-backs would have clinched the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2017. The fifth longest such active playoff drought in the MLB.
Houston, much like the D-backs are trying to clinch a playoff berth of their own this weekend. In a tight AL West division where Texas, Houston and Seattle are separated by only two games, this three-game set is crucial to both sides.
It is often said that baseball is a game of inches, and Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena helped prove the old saying.
With Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte in scoring position, Pena ultimately wound up saving the game by making an incredible diving stop and throwing out Tommy Pham by half a step, to end the bottom of the eighth.
“That’s why this game is so amazing. It can be so rewarding and then absolutely rip your heart out basically all in one play,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after the game.
Trailing 2-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, the D-backs were able to make some noise off Astros closer Ryan Pressley.
Catcher Gabriel Moreno hit a towering fly ball into left center field, narrowly missing a game-tying home run. It allowed Alek Thomas to score all the way from first base, cutting the lead in half.
Down to their last out, Jace Peterson was unable to drive in Moreno, ending the game.
Zac Gallen pitched in his final home start of the season, making it into the seventh inning, but was pulled after throwing 104 pitches. Over 6.1 innings he recorded seven strikeouts, one walk, two earned runs on seven hits.
“We know what’s in front of us. Guys are playing hard, the guys are engaged,” Luvollo said. “Good crowd tonight—we felt the energy. We gotta sleep this one off, figure out how to get better, make some quality adjustments and make sure we’re ready at 5:10 tomorrow”.
Even with the loss on Friday, the Diamondbacks have two games remaining and are still in a decent spot to make the postseason.
A win on Saturday or a Cincinnati Reds loss would do the job in punching Arizona’s postseason ticket.
The Diamondbacks will turn to Merill Kelly (12-7 3.38 ERA) Saturday night in what should be a great pitching duel against Houston’s Justin Verlander (12-8 3.32 ERA) with first pitch at 5:10 p.m.
