PHOENIX -- Well before Friday's game against the Brewers started, Diamondbacks pitchers went through pitcher's fielding practice, something the organization preaches to its players.
Just why those types of things are important was evidenced hours later when the Brewers put together a four-run 11th inning to beat the Diamondbacks, 7-4, at Chase Field.
Ryan Thompson came on to start the 11th for the Diamondbacks, the seventh reliever used by manager Torey Lovullo. With the automatic runner at second base, Thompson hit Cooper Pratt with a pitch.
Joey Ortiz then sacrificed both runners up, and Arizona elected to intentionally walk Christian Yelich to load the bases, hoping that Thompson could get Jackson Chourio to hit into a double play.
Chourio hit a chopper to the left of the pitcher's mound, and Thompson fielded it and threw off balance to try and get Blake Perkins at the plate.
The throw was nowhere near on target, though, and bounced to the backstop, allowing another run to score and putting runners at second and third. Both runners scored when Brice Turang delivered a two-run single, giving the Brewers a commanding lead.
"We actually worked on those exact things, throwing to the catcher; we practiced it today," Thompson said. "And I butchered it. I believe in myself a lot to make plays. It's one of the things I pride myself on a lot.""We actually worked on those exact things, throwing to the catcher; we practiced it today,"
It would've taken a highlight-reel play to cut down the runner at home, and Thompson knows, on some level, that the smart play there would've been to just hold onto the ball.
Yes, a run would've scored, but the Diamondbacks still would've had their chance in the bottom half of the inning. The Brewers putting up a crooked number certainly made their hill very hard to climb.
"So, bad mistake on my part," Thompson said. "But in the moment I believed in myself 1,000 percent to make the play, and even watching it [later] it might sound crazy, but I still think it's possible. If I make a good throw there, I get him out at the plate, and everything's different because of that. So, yeah, it's just belief in myself to make plays, and got to learn from it. The smart thing is eating the ball."
That the game even went to extra innings is probably in large part due to the defensive work of Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning and had rookie right-hander Jose Cabrera on the ropes with runners at first and second and one out. At the plate was Garrett Mitchell, who had homered the inning before.
Mitchell jumped ahead in the count, 2-0, and smashed a fastball to left field that looked headed for the bleachers. Gurriel retreated on the ball and timed his jump perfectly, reached over the wall, and robbed Mitchell of a homer and the Brewers of a 6-0 lead.
The play seemed to shift the entire momentum of the game as the Diamondbacks got out of the inning with no further damage and tied the game in the bottom half of the frame, where it stayed until extra innings.
"Gurriel catching that home run was an unbelievable play," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "I almost clapped. Of course, I'm kidding, but we would have been up six there. If that ball goes out, it's a different game."