Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte homered on consecutive pitches and Gabriel Moreno also went deep as the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the 2023 National League Wild Card Series at America First Field.
Arizona, making their first playoff appearance since 2017, was 0-14 in postseason games which they trailed by three runs but they overcame a 3-0 deficit against Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes.
"He's a really good pitcher", said Carroll, the runaway NL Rookie of the Year winner. "We wanted to get him out of there. I thought we took really patient at-bats and got rewarded with that patience by getting some balls in the middle of the plate that we were able to put good swings on."
Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run home run for the Brewers, who wasted several opportunities to score, leaving the bases loaded in three of the first five innings, with the last coming when there was nobody out.
Burnes lasted two batters into the fifth inning, allowing four runs over the first four innings, but walked the only two hitters he faced in the fifth.
"When I was executing pitches the first couple of innings, we got quick outs, and a lot of ground balls, some strikeouts", he said. "Then when I stopped executing pitches, they didn't miss."
Diamondbacks get to Burnes; Longoria, bullpen help Arizona to Game 1 win
With Milwaukee ahead 1-0, Taylor crushed a two-run homer to left field off Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
The Diamondbacks then began their comeback, Carroll cutting the lead to 3-2 with a 444-foot blast that landed in the second deck in right-center following Geraldo Perdomo's one-out single.
On Burnes' very next pitch, Marte sent a cutter over the right field wall to tie the game and Moreno's first long ball since September 2nd gave Arizona the lead for good.
Manager Torey Lovullo felt the home run by Carroll turned things in his team's favor.
"I think at that point, we all exhaled", he said, "and I think we collectively got our feet underneath us and felt very good about the direction in which we were going."
Evan Longoria made the key defensive play of the game, snaring Taylor's line drive and turned it into an inning-ending double play.
With Ryne Nelson, a starter coming out of the bullpen to relieve Pfaddt, gave up back-to-back singles to Sal Frelick and Willy Adames. Nelson then walked Josh Donaldson to load the bases.
His first pitch to Brice Turang appeared to hit him around the foot, which would have brought in the tying run. Arizona challenged and the call was overturned.
Turang struck out, and Ryan Thompson got the final two outs when Longoria snared Taylor’s high, screaming liner and threw from his knees to double Adames off second.
"I just kind of jumped and threw my glove up", Longoria said. "Sometimes those plays, I think, it's just a reaction. ... I threw my glove up there and I felt it hit my glove. I couldn't believe I actually caught it."
Christian Walker added some insurance with a two-run single off of Milwaukee closer Devin Williams in the ninth and the Arizona bullpen did the rest.
Joe Mantiply, Miguel Castro, Nelson, Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald combined for 6 1/3 innings of shutout relief.
"Our bullpen is the reason why we won this game", Lovullo said.
Gallen looks to close out Brewers; Peralta gets the call to save Milwaukee's season
Lovullo held Zac Gallen back for this very scenario and the 17-game winner can eliminate the Brewers, who will throw Freddy Peralta (12-10, 3.86 ERA) in an attempt to force a Game 3.