PHOENIX — The Diamondbacks were oh so close to holding their playoff fate in their hands Wednesday night, but they could not seal the deal as they fell, 5-4, to the Dodgers in 11 innings at Chase Field.
With the Mets falling to the Cubs and the Reds losing to the Pirates, the Diamondbacks did not lose any ground in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot. Arizona remains tied with the Reds, one game behind the Mets, with four games left to play.
Had the Diamondbacks found a way to beat the Dodgers for the second straight night, they would have been tied with the Mets, and since they own the tiebreaker, they would have essentially held the lead for the final postseason spot.
Win those final four games, and no matter what the Mets or Reds did, the Diamondbacks would be postseason-bound, as improbable as that seemed as recently as a couple of weeks ago.
Instead, they will need some help from other teams down the stretch.
“Tough one to swallow,” said starter Ryne Nelson. “I think the guys left it all out there today. I think, regardless of how it ended, it’s really fun to be a part of this team and to be a part of what we have going on here. I think that we never give up, never stop fighting. And I think that’s kind of been the story of the whole season. Tough one to swallow, but all we can do is just go home, get some rest and come back out here ready to win a game.”
It won’t get any easier Thursday afternoon as the Dodgers are throwing their ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as they try and wrap up the NL West title.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, announced after the game that they will push their scheduled starter, ace Zac Gallen, back to Friday against the Padres. Lefty Jalen Beeks will start as an opener for Arizona as they try to gain an advantage against a Dodgers lineup that typically features two lefties — Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman — amongst their first three batters of the game.
Right-hander Nabil Crismatt figures to follow Beeks and get the bulk of the innings.
Arizona recently bumped Crismatt from the rotation to utilize their four best pitchers more frequently, a move they were able to make due to the scheduled off-days they had. However, this time through the rotation, the Diamondbacks would have to have a bullpen game or Crismatt start at some point. Instead of it being Saturday against the Padres, it will be Thursday.
Wednesday’s loss was by no means a season-ending defeat, but the mood in the clubhouse made it clear that they knew just how much letting this game slip through their fingers hurts their postseason hopes.
“We had some opportunities late in the game to win the game, and we’re all frustrated by it,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We didn’t execute. We didn’t execute at the right time to win that baseball game. We know the stakes are high. We know what’s going on. We know the scores of the [Mets and Reds games]. We’re all scoreboard watching, and we’re allowed to, because we’ve earned that. But you know, at the end of the day, you’ve got to regroup, find a way to flush this and make sure you’re ready to play a baseball game tomorrow, because it’s going to be a quick, quick turnaround.”
Just like Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks fell behind the Dodgers 4-1 and, like Tuesday, they rallied to tie the game, this time with a three-run eighth inning.
Tuesday, they won the game in the ninth. Wednesday they had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 10th after holding the Dodgers scoreless in the top half.
Ketel Marte opened the 10th at second as the automatic runner and was sacrificed to third by Geraldo Perdomo. The Dodgers then intentionally walked Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno to load the bases with one out.
Jack Dreyer, though, got Jake McCarthy to pop out and Blake Treinen came in and retired James McCann to end the inning.
In the 11th, Tommy Edman delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit when his two-out line-drive single to left-center scored Freeman from third.
Arizona went down in order in the 11th.
“A tough game,” Carroll said. “Obviously, battled them the whole way and tied it up there late, but just got beat today. We have to win these games, and everyone’s on board with that, so I don’t think that there’s any feeling sorry for ourselves. It’s just got to win tomorrow.”
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