PHOENIX -- The life of a closer in baseball is a tough one.
Sure, you're well compensated. You get the light show pyrotechnics when you enter. There are high fives and good feelings all around when you secure the win.
But the margin for error is small, and you can save game after game and not get interviewed -- but let one get away, and the media is waiting for you at your locker to explain how it happened, while social media is calling for you to be removed from your role.
Paul Sewald has been outstanding for the Diamondbacks this year. In 12 appearances, the veteran right-hander has allowed runs in only two outings. One of those came on Thursday afternoon when he entered a tied game in the ninth and walked two batters before giving up a three-run homer to Andrew Benintendi.
It added up to a 4-1 loss to the White Sox and left Sewald having to answer questions postgame.
It was clear from the get-go that Sewald did not have his usual command. He walked leadoff man Chase Meidroth on four pitches. His first pitch to the next batter, Tristan Peters, was off the plate, but Peters laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.
Sewald then walked pinch-hitter Edgar Quero and manager Torey Lovullo, sensing where things were going, got right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga up in the bullpen.
"It happens a couple of times a year," Sewald said. "You throw enough where you just feel like you don't know where [the ball] is going. And today's one of those days. You just hope somebody lines out, pretty much."
Instead, Benintendi deposited a fastball into the pool area beyond the wall in right-center. It was a fastball he tried to get up in the zone, but instead the pitch was right down the middle.
"Just couldn't really throw the slider for a strike, couldn't throw the fastball for a strike," Sewald said. "There's no way to alert the team … it's a little too late before you realize that you can't throw strikes. So just disappointing. I let the guys down and didn't give us a chance there in the ninth, but we'll get back after it this weekend, and hopefully it'll be better."
The first two games of the series featured plenty of offensive fireworks with the two teams combining to score 34 runs.
Thursday's series finale, though, belonged to the pitchers.
Both starters -- Chris Martin for the White Sox and Michael Soroka for Arizona -- pitched well. Martin allowed just one run over 6 1/3 while Soroka gave up one run in five innings.
The Diamondbacks took the lead in the game in the first when Ketel Marte reached on an infield single and came around to score on Adrian Del Castillo's two-out double.
The White Sox tied things up in the third thanks to an RBI single by Miguel Vargas, but some shoddy baserunning in the inning prevented the Sox from adding some additional tallies.
"We really couldn't solve the puzzle with their starting pitcher," Lovullo said of Martin. "He had real good stuff. Was challenging us in the zone. We had some hard-hit balls and some opportunities, but we just couldn't cash in at the right time, the right situation."
The Diamondbacks finished up their six-game homestand with a 3-3 record and now head to Mexico City, where they will take on the Padres on Saturday and Sunday.