Hale touts D-backs' fortitude after walk-off win

PHOENIX -- D-backs manager Chip Hale remains proud of one attribute his club has shown throughout this disappointing season -- the effort level. Even though the results haven't been there, Hale feels his team never lets that affect on-field performance.
That was apparent again on Monday night. Arizona overcame a five-run deficit to take a lead in the seventh. Then after allowing the Braves to tie it in the ninth, Paul Goldschmidt hit a walk-off homer to give the D-backs a 9-8 win.

"I've said it all year: They've battled," Hale said. "We've gone through some tough times, we've fallen behind, I've never thought they've given up. I always tip my hat to them. When you come back and win a game, it means a lot. It gives you confidence that you can do it. We have battled back, but we haven't battled back to win a lot of these games. We've kept it respectable or got it close, so it's nice to get a win out of this."
Hale hasn't seen the club's struggles and the noise that surrounds it cause a distraction. In fact, Monday's comeback win was Arizona's largest in more than a year. The D-backs last overcame a five-run deficit to win on June 3, 2015, when they erased a 6-0 Atlanta lead to win, 9-8.
This time, Arizona entered the seventh inning trailing, 7-4. Michael Bourn trimmed the deficit to two runs with an RBI single. Goldschmidt singled and Yasmany Tomás worked a two-out walk to load the bases against Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaíno.
Welington Castillo emptied the bases with a three-run double that put the D-backs ahead, 8-7. But Freddie Freeman's second homer of the night, off Arizona reliever Enrique Burgos, tied it, 8-8, in the ninth.
But just two pitches into the bottom of the inning, Goldschmidt's fourth career walk-off homer ended it. And unlike previous times when the D-backs have battled back but not quite all the way, they enjoyed a nice celebration at home plate.
"It's nice not to have to take home a moral victory, get an actual one. It makes it a little bit better," Goldschmidt said. "We haven't won as many games as we'd have liked, so we're just trying to get some wins and play hard these last few weeks."