PHOENIX -- This is a loss that could really come back to haunt the Diamondbacks.
Esteury Ruiz’s three-run double in the top of the 11th inning led the Marlins past the Diamondbacks, 4-2, on Tuesday night at Chase Field.
Here's what you need to know about the game:
It didn't hurt in the standings
Despite the loss, the Diamondbacks did not lose any ground in the battle for the final National League Wild Card spot, as the Padres lost to the Rockies. Arizona trails San Diego by 2 1/2 games with 10 games to play, including a three-game series between the two teams at Petco Park to end the regular season.
Standings or not, this was a bad loss
Even on the toughest of nights, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo tends toward the optimistic side of things, but there was no hiding his frustration after this one.
"This one sucked," Lovullo said. "We let a game get away from us that I felt like we should have won."
The Diamondbacks wrap up the three-game series with the Marlins on Wednesday night so they need to find a way to flush this game and be ready.
"We can't do one dang thing about the past," Lovullo said. "We've got to look forward and just keep pushing, pushing the envelope, and doing what we do best: score some runs and win a baseball game."
Said starter Michael Soroka: "It hurts. I think you guys can feel that. I think we all feel it. It was a hard-fought game. So we know we've got to go out there and let it rip and run the tables here."
Plenty of chances
After rallying the night before to beat the Marlins in walk-off fashion, the Diamondbacks' offense collected nine hits overall, but was just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
As a result, they left 15 men on base.
"We executed, put ourselves in good position to score runs, and we didn't," Lovullo said. "The name of the game is going out there and grinding out at-bats and executing at the most critical times. We had a number of guys left on base and I felt like the approach at times was solid. We were seeing pitches and grinding it down. We just couldn't get it done, and that was the difference in the game."
Outfielder Lars Nootbaar was asked if maybe the hitters were trying to do too much in those situations.
"You want to cash those in, and that's how you win ballgames by scoring those runs," Nootbaar said. "Disappointing when you leave that many baserunners on. I don't think anybody's approach or anything changed really, but just unfortunate."
Biggest play of the game
It looked like the Diamondbacks were going to collect their second walk-off win in a row when the Marlins failed to score in the top of the 10th while Arizona put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the inning.
Ryan Waldschmidt then hit a grounder to second and Jared Serna fired a strike to catcher Brian Navarreto, who was able to keep Geraldo Perdomo's hand from reaching home plate while tagging him out.
Navarreto used his left foot to block Perdomo, who was sliding headfirst into the plate. As Lovullo pointed out, blocking the plate in that situation is legal.
"If the infield is in, the catcher can stand in front of the plate," Lovullo said. "[Perdomo] was trying to make a play, and I thought he made a great read on the play. We were running on contact, and the catcher just stepped on his hand and blocked the plate. So, good job by him. They understood the rules. It was a perfectly legal play because of the infield being in."