D-backs' 'pen blanks Astros to propel them back into Wild Card spot

HOUSTON -- It was the emphatic exclamation point for the Diamondbacks’ bullpen.

With the game-tying run standing at second base and two outs, Brandyn Garcia reached back and hurled a 99.6 mph sinker that dropped out of the zone. Jose Altuve flailed at it bat and spun out of the batter's box to close out a 4-3 victory over the Astros in 10 innings on Saturday night at Daikin Park. ​

“I did try to let that one eat as hard as I could,” said Garcia, who recorded his fifth save of the season. “That was pretty cool that I got a little swing and miss on that.”

To lead off the 10th, holding a one-run advantage, Garcia was faced with the potential game-winning run standing at the plate in the form of American League MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez.

After getting down 3-0 in the count, Garcia worked his way back and eventually struck Alvarez out looking on a 98.3 mph sinker.

“We’ve seen that for a while, that he has the potential to be one of the best closers,” said Jonathan Loáisiga through an interpreter. “We saw it there as evidence [against] some of the best hitters out there. A great performance.”

Garcia’s 10th inning was the bookend of another stellar night for the Diamondbacks’ ‘pen, which helped the club leapfrog the Padres for the third National League Wild Card spot following San Diego’s loss to the Yankees.

It’s a group that entered Saturday with four relievers (Garcia, Loáisiga, Taylor Clarke, and Juan Morillo) boasting sub-3.00 ERAs. The D-backs are one of four teams in the Majors to have such a group.

“Without them we’re not sitting in the position we are right now,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said prior to the game on Saturday.

The Astros saw three of those arms trot from the left field bullpen, as the D-backs’ offense slowly chipped away at a 3-1 advantage for Houston. The big blow came in the eighth inning, when Ketel Marte blasted a game-tying homer to right field for his 22nd long ball of the year. ​

After Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt registered his eighth quality start, giving up the three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four on the night in 6 1/3 innings, it was the bullpen’s time to shine.

A combination of Kevin Ginkel, Morillo, Loáisiga and Garcia covered 3 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and striking out five, while the offense scored three times in that span to eventually take the lead.

“They’ve been doing it all year long,” Lovullo said. “It was the right guys, the right matchups. … That's the reason why we win so many one-run games here. Those guys do their job, keep us in games and hold leads.”

Pfaadt added: “I feel like the highlight of the night was the bullpen coming in and doing their job. They’ve been doing great lately. Tonight was one of those nights.”

After Ginkel pitched a clean seventh inning, striking out Alvarez to end it, Morillo pitched yet another scoreless inning in the eighth. It extends his career-high scoreless streak to 18 games, a stretch in which opponents are 11-for-63 (.174) against him with 19 strikeouts.

“Same mentality, go out and do my job,” Morillo said about how he’s approaching each outing. “Help the team win.” ​

Lovullo added: “He’s a very dependable reliever and one of the best that we have. He just fills up the zone, he has a three-pitch mix and he’s fearless.”

Then it was time to hand the ball over to Loáisiga in the ninth to try to force extra innings.

After giving up a leadoff single, he struck out Taylor Trammell and Cam Smith. Finally, he got Jeremy Peña to pop out in foul territory to Marte, who made an impressive running catch against the netting to end the inning.

“The most important thing is to help the team win,” Loáisiga said. “That’s the most important thing, and staying cohesive and together.”

Once in extras, and with the lead in hand following Gabriel Moreno’s go-ahead single in the 10th, the final piece to the puzzle for the night was Garcia coming in and slamming the door on a much-needed win.

“Everyone’s bought in on our job as a bullpen,” Garcia said. “Just go out there and throw up a zero, that’s the main thing. I think that everybody, no matter what inning, what scenario it is, we’re going out there to throw a zero and we’re just going to let the offense do their work at the end of it.”