Ahmed slugs grand slam for focused D-backs

MIAMI -- Rumors swirled Saturday that the D-backs had made the decision to be sellers at the Trade Deadline, but that didn’t stop the current group of players for being ready to fight -- literally -- in their 9-2 win over the Marlins.

Earlier in the day, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reported that the D-backs are “focused intently on selling conversations.” Players who could be moved include Sunday’s scheduled starter, Robbie Ray.

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That’s not something that the players in the Arizona clubhouse want to hear.

“I’d rather not comment on that,” said D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed, who hit his second career grand slam. “They’re going to do what they want to do. We want to compete. We want to win. We obviously don’t want to throw anything away. We trust what [the front office] decisions are and stand behind them. We want to compete, we want to win.

• Grand slams mean 30% off pizza

"We don’t want to show up and know that some of our better players have been traded away. We want to add pieces to the club if possible. We like our chances. We’re going to get hot at some point. We haven’t really done that yet. We’ve just kind of grinded and competed and got to this point where we’re maybe one or two games above .500. We want to keep playing.”

The win lifted the D-backs to 53-52, and they remain within shouting distance at 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals for the National League’s second Wild Card spot.

But they have to pass four teams and would need to get on an extended winning streak, which is something that has proven elusive for them this year.

One thing that has been in plenty of supply is effort and resilience, something they displayed again Saturday.

After falling behind 1-0 when Miguel Rojas led off the bottom of the first with a homer, the D-backs rallied for six runs against Marlins starter Jordan Yamamoto in the fourth inning.

Yamamoto walked three and hit a batter in the inning, and the D-backs made him pay for the free baserunners when Ahmed capped the inning with the grand slam.

The D-backs showed their literal fight in the eighth after first baseman Christian Walker was hit just below the left elbow by a 98-mph Tayron Guerrero fastball.

It was the second time Walker had been hit in the game, as Yamamoto caught him in the left hand with a pitch in the fourth.

The D-backs bench had some words for Guerrero, who did not like what he heard, and he stared into their dugout and motioned to them to come out.

“It’s nothing more than, ‘Figure it out and throw it over the plate,’” manager Torey Lovullo replied when asked what was said. “And Guerrero took exception to that, stepped off of the mound and basically called out our whole dugout. For me, I hope the league addresses that the right way.”

The D-backs spilled out onto the field, as did the Marlins. There was a lot of hollering, but there were no punches thrown or even much pushing and shoving.

“I love it,” Walker said. “That gives me so much confidence to have teammates like that. I feel they have my back.”

After order was restored, the umpires huddled and decided not to eject anyone, but instead issued a warning to both teams. That angered Lovullo, and he came out to argue with home-plate umpire Bruce Dreckman.

“I just felt like we were innocent bystanders in that whole process and then got warned and reprimanded, and I don’t like that,” Lovullo said. “That’s me protecting our team for the right reasons. We did nothing wrong and basically got reprimanded for no reason.”

Walker was removed from the game; X-rays were negative. He is listed as day to day.