'This game will rip your heart out': D-backs lament missed chances in Texas

ARLINGTON -- All night long, this felt like a game the Arizona Diamondbacks should win.

They built innings by putting runner after runner -- 18 on the night -- on base, and yet they lacked the big hit when they needed it.

And then in the ninth, the big hit came – two actually: First an RBI double by Nolan Arenado to tie the game, then a two-run single by Ildemaro Vargas to give the Diamondbacks a 5-3 lead.

There was relief and elation in the dugout. This was going to be one of those come-from-behind wins that manager Torey Lovullo likes to call a "push moment" that would give the D-backs a series win over Texas and some momentum heading into a weekend series against the Rockies.

And then, just like that, a Rangers offense that had been in a slumber outside of a three-run homer by Jake Burger came alive in the bottom of the ninth to score three runs off Paul Sewald and Juan Morillo and record a 6-5 walk-off win on Wednesday night.

Suddenly, that flight to Denver got a whole lot longer and less fun.

A manager gets paid to put things in perspective and not get carried away with the highs and lows as much as he might feel it. So Lovullo tried to find that balance -- disappointment with the loss and encouragement with the quality of at-bats.

"It's brutal," Lovullo said. "This game will rip your heart out. But the one thing I want to say is these guys play their [butts] off. And when you look at the full body of work, I thought today there was so much progress made and we were pushing in the right direction. I learned a lot about this team as I watched them rally and come together in those late innings and fight to win that baseball game. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. I know they're very eager to get back out there and show what they can do. We're going to be just fine."

Scoring runs has been an issue for the Diamondbacks, which is a surprise given the success that this same basic group of hitters has experienced over the past few seasons. Their chase rate has been up and Lovullo and the coaching staff have preached a more patient approach.

The hitters responded, drawing 12 walks over the last two games of the series.

Cashing in those opportunities has been tougher. The first two batters of the game reached, only to be stranded, and the Diamondbacks left a pair of runners on base in both the third and fourth innings.

Even when they pushed across single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to cut the lead to 3-2, they left a combined three runners on base.

"We were building innings, and that's why I said there's a lot of progress," Lovullo said. "We just couldn't get that big hit, that big slug."

They did push across the three in the ninth, which they see as a sign that things could be turning around offensively.

"It was great to see our offense fight back," Arenado said. "We've been having trouble scoring some runs here for the past few weeks, and just to see us kind of climb back there against some good arms was a great sign for us. Obviously we’ve got to do a better job at getting the lead, kind of starting a little bit earlier, but hopefully that's just the beginning of something good."

Sewald, who has been reliable for the Diamondbacks this year in the closer's role and finished a 1-0 victory on Monday night, came on in the 10th. With two outs and one on, he allowed an RBI double to Ezequiel Duran, a walk and an RBI single to Burger to tie the game.

"It felt like they knew what was coming," Sewald said. "So we'll try to look at it. It just felt like when I threw good pitches, it didn't matter."

Morillo came on and gave up the game-winning single to Danny Jansen.