DENVER -- The D-backs scored their first run in Saturday afternoon’s 4-2 loss against the Rockies at Coors Field in a unique way: they stole it.
As in, they stole home in the second inning thanks to a well-executed double steal by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jose Fernandez. Gurriel, who had doubled earlier in the frame, was at third base and Fernandez, who followed with a single, was at first.
On a 3-1 pitch from Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano to James McCann, Fernandez broke for second. When catcher Hunter Goodman threw to second, Gurriel broke for the plate and slid in safely with a head-first dive just ahead of Goodman’s receipt of the return throw from second.
It was the D-backs’ first successful theft of home on a double steal since April 4, 2023, when Josh Rojas swiped the plate while Ketel Marte stole second in a win over the Padres at Petco Park.
“We work hard at that,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We see little signs and tells, and it was triggered. I felt strongly about it and we had the right guys in the right spot. And it worked out really, really good.”
Lovullo was pleased with the result -- but, never satisfied as he tries to guide his club back to the postseason for the first time since making a surprise run to the World Series in 2023, he said the double steal could’ve been executed even better.
“It was run effectively, but not perfectly,” Lovullo said. “We’ve gotta tighten up a couple things down there.”
Mainly, Lovullo said, it was a matter of timing -- it could’ve been more precise.
After scoring six runs in the first inning of a 9-1 win in the series opener on Friday night, the runs were a little harder to come by for Arizona in Saturday’s defeat.
So you get ’em any way you can. And you never stop working on making those creative run-producing plays.
“That’s what we do,” Lovullo said. “Even though it was successful, we’re going to still continue to coach it so it is perfect.”