KANSAS CITY -- On paper, it shaped up as a daunting task for the Diamondbacks. Arizona was going with a bullpen committee approach against the Royals on Monday, and facing reigning American League Pitcher of the Month Noah Cameron.
Thanks to a herculean effort by the bullpen, the D-backs pulled it off.
The Arizona relief corps shut out the Royals for nine innings before the D-backs’ offense got busy in the 10th, scoring five runs to boost Arizona to a 5-4 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
A sacrifice fly by Lars Nootbaar put the D-backs on top, and then Geraldo Perdomo provided some insurance with an RBI single against veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel. An error by right fielder John Rave allowed the third run to score, and Arizona put it into overdrive from there.
Derek Law was used as an opener and set the tone with two scoreless innings, and Jose Cabrera, Taylor Clarke, Brandyn Garcia and Justin Martinez combined for seven more zeros before the D-backs’ offense erupted in the 10th.
However, the D-backs had to survive some anxious moments in the bottom of the inning. A three-run double by Salvador Perez with one out brought Kansas City within a run. Dennis Santana came on for Gerardo Carillo and stopped the Royals cold by getting Michael Massey on a fly ball and Nick Loftin on a called third strike.
“Santana, who hasn’t thrown in eight days, comes in and gets the save,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “That tells me a story. It tells me what he has been doing when nobody is watching, because he was prepared for that moment.”
The Diamondbacks (77-68) are 3-1 on their current six-game road trip.
This is the third game in at least the divisional era (1969) to be scoreless through nine innings and end with each team having scored at least four runs, joining the Astros-Athletics (April 24, 2015) and White Sox-Mariners (June 5, 2013).
“The 10th was a little dicey,” Lovullo said. “We knew we had sold out for nine innings with the [pitchers] we knew were available. We went to that next layer, and the first nine innings were fantastic.”
For the first five pitchers who paraded to the mound for Arizona, there was no margin for error. Cameron went six innings and didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. Only the fact that Arizona fouled off 27 of Cameron’s pitches (tied for the most for a Royals’ pitcher this year, per Statcast), kept him from going deeper into the game.
A couple of fine defensive plays by first baseman Ildemaro Vargas thwarted two possible scoring opportunities for Kansas City, and Clarke pitched around an error in the sixth as the Royals put their leadoff man at second but couldn’t cash in.
Law loved the manner in which the D-backs reached deep on a day when the offense was mostly quiet and the bullpen was thin coming off a tight three-game series in Houston.
“It has been 10 years since the last playoff push for me, and this is pretty exciting for the old dog,” Law said. “This team is resilient, a lot of close games. You would like it to be 10-0, but good teams play close games and win close games.”
In the end, the D-backs were able to keep some pressure on San Diego in the primary battle for the third Wild Card spot in the National League. Arizona, which is 11 games over .500 since July 9, can take some added encouragement in the fact that veteran pitchers Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen and Michael Soroka are all close to returning for a sprint to the finish line.
“We hung in there,” Lovullo said. “This team is tough.”