PHOENIX -- The sound off the bat got an eruption of sound from the Chase Field crowd. But as the ball off the bat of Nolan Arenado traveled toward the left-foul pole, it began to hook. It ultimately slid foul, almost a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the fifth that would have kept the D-backs’ postseason chances alive.
One pitch later, Arenado hammered the next one fair into the left-field seats. Pendulum, swung.
It marked Arenado’s ninth career grand slam and third this year, tying Paul Goldschmidt (2013) and Eugenio Suárez (‘25) for the most in a single season in franchise history. It was the turning point in the club’s 8-4 victory over the Yankees on Sunday during the regular-season home finale, marking the D-backs’ 47th comeback win of the year, the most in the Majors.
But with the Cubs (87-69), Padres (87-69) and Phillies (86-70) all winning on Sunday as well, the D-backs remain four games out of the third and final National League Wild Card spot with just six games to play. To paraphrase Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra and one of his “Yogi-isms”:
“It’s getting late early.”
While the D-backs will conclude the regular season with a three-game series against San Diego next week, they trail the Padres by five games. That means Arizona would need to make up two games in the standings by the time it arrives at Petco Park next Friday to give itself a direct chance at October baseball.
“I’m definitely peeking, I think we’re all peeking,” said Arenado of the out-of-town scoreboard. “We lead the Major Leagues in comeback wins – I don’t know if that’s the one you want to be No. 1 in – but I think it’s pretty cool in the sense that we don’t quit and we continue to fight to the end.”
In addition to his slam, the 10-time Gold Glover played a pivotal part in helping the relief corps – which lowered its ERA this month to 2.34, the best mark in the NL – to twirl 6 1/3 scoreless frames.
One play in particular, a slow roller off the bat of Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. in the eighth, caught the attention of manager Torey Lovullo. Arenado charged the ball at full speed, and in one fell swoop, he had the ball perfectly gripped to make a throw in time to get the out.
“‘Did I just see what I thought I saw?’” said Lovullo. “When I see him do things like that – and it happens often – I just shake my head and I’m grateful to be around him.”
“I would probably call that one the Nolan Arenado Game,” said starter Corbin Burnes. “It’s pretty incredible – offensively, defensively, just clutch hitting. Really, what he’s done the past couple weeks has been incredible … and it’s awesome to see a guy kind of have a resurgence here later in his career and light a fire.”
Burnes lasted just 2 2/3 frames as the velocity on all of his pitches was down once again. It came back to bite him in the third when the Bronx Bombers lived up to their moniker by bashing a trio of home runs that ended the night early for the former NL Cy Young Award winner.
The current plan is for the 31-year-old – who has posted a 7.84 ERA in three outings since returning – to make his final start of the year next week. Both he and Lovullo insist that Burnes is healthy, just battling ineffectiveness.
Regardless of what the next week holds for the 2026 D-backs as they embark on the road, what can’t be denied is that by virtue of their 45-37 record at Chase Field, they turned in the most successful season at home since 2017 (53-29).
“The fact that we’ve won a lot of baseball games here over the past 10 years and put ourselves in a good position year after year after year to get to the big dance, I’m proud of that,” said Lovullo. “But that’s never the final destination.
“If you’re looking at a full body of work, this state should be proud of what these players do and what they accomplish every single day. I know it’s not the 2001 team. We want to get there. I want to give that team company. I want this community, this state to talk about two baseball teams – that 2001 team and then the current team that’s won a world championship. It just takes a lot of work, and we’re going to figure this out."