Diamondbacks pile on hits in sweep over Nationals

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks compiled 12 hits in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the visiting Washington Nationals onto a total of 48 over a three-game sweep.

A seemingly certain win came under fire in the ninth inning. Ryan Thompson secured the save after another difficult game for closer Paul Sewald brought the tying run 90 feet away.

The D-backs (58-51) completed their first series sweep since May 9 and second of the season, finishing the homestand against Pittsburgh and Washington 5-1 with only an extra-inning loss.

Arizona enters August in a wild card spot after putting up a major league-best 17-9 record in July.

“This is the expectation, we were in the World Series for a reason,” Thompson said. “We can start using the Answerbacks thing again. We can start using the Embrace the Chaos, all the stuff that seemed a little silent for a while, it’s all back. The vibe, the aura … It’s nothing we didn’t expect. This is who we are.”

Starting pitcher Zac Gallen on Wednesday put together six innings with one earned run, buying time for the offense to break out against Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore.

The D-backs rallied in the sixth inning, as five of their first six batters to come up recorded hits in a four-run frame.

Arizona’s speed and aggression overwhelmed the Nationals. Randal Grichuk stretched out a hustle double and scored on a Geraldo Perdomo single.

Perdomo executed a delayed steal and took third on a throwing error. Corbin Carroll bounced a chopper over second baseman Luis Garcia Jr.’s head for the RBI and scored from first on a Jose Herrera double to go up 5-1.

Domo + Corbin + Jose = 3⃣ more in! pic.twitter.com/EaGrs4gzem

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 31, 2024

“The situational hitting was, was fantastic,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Really nice quality approaches. We built the inning by being patient, by having an all-field approach. … Took us a little while to get kick started, but it was all working off of Zac.”

The Diamondbacks had a similar inning on Tuesday with seven straight hits leading to a seven-spot in a 17-0 rout.

Jake McCarthy put up another three-hit game, single-handedly generating the first run scored. He tripled with two outs in the third inning and walked in on a wild pitch.

“You just want a chance to compete every day and I think we’re in every game,” McCarthy said. “It’s not the same story every time. Offensively, we are creative in the ways we score runs. Our pitchers give us a chance, and I think that’s a sign of a good team.”

Eugenio Suarez finished with two singles after his three-homer game on Tuesday.

Arizona scored more runs than any other club this month with 164 (6.56 per game).

Will Paul Sewald remain the closer?

Lovullo’s most recent answer to the question before Wednesday’s game was a clear yes, and Sewald entered a seemingly safe situation up 5-2.

Sewald, though, was nowhere near the zone for much of the outing, throwing nine strikes and 15 balls.

He walked the lead-off man, recorded an out thanks to a diving play by first baseman Pavin Smith and gave up an RBI double to CJ Abrams. Sewald walked the next two batters to load the bases and end his outing.

Lovullo said he was a batter late to get his closer.

Thompson escaped the jam, allowing only one inherited run on a passed ball.

Sewald started July with a blown save and nearly capped it the same way, finishing the month with 10 innings, 12 earned runs and 18 hits.

“There’s a delivery issue,” Lovullo said. “There’s something going on with his delivery. It’s not allowing him to throw the ball where he wants to, have the finish and make pitches he’s normally making.

“That right now is my top priority … I have a lot to think about over the next several hours, and I will, but I just want to make sure we dig into finding what’s happening with him, because he’s not hitting his spots. I know everybody wants to know, ‘What’s the closer situation? Are you going to dump him out of the closer role?’ That’s not my priority with Paul right now, my priority is to find out if he’s getting blocked by some sort of a delivery problem. That’s our job.”

He did not specify whether Sewald would get the next save opportunity.

Thompson had Sewald’s back in the clubhouse, sharing advice for any reliever going through a stretch like this.

“It’s just trust his stuff. He’s a really good pitcher, and I’ve been through a lot of rough stretches, a lot of us have,” Thompson said. “The first thing you want to do is to start second guessing. … I think people from the outside are making more of it than they should. We’re not overthinking anything.”

The D-backs bolstered the bullpen at the trade deadline with A.J. Puk and Dylan Floro coming over, so there are plenty of matchup options for Lovullo to build out games.

July is over, the D-backs don’t have room for many blown saves whether Sewald finds a solution or not.

Who do the Diamondbacks play next?

The D-backs get Thursday off and begin a three-game set at PNC Park against the Pirates on Friday.

Arizona will run out Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson in order.

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