Tag: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Mets did the Braves a huge favor on Brandon Nimmo’s 9th-inning double play in Game 2

D-backs fans should be fuming.

After the Mets’ thrilling Game 1 doubleheader win against the Braves on Monday, New York locked up a playoff spot and went into Game 2 with no incentive to compete. That became awfully clear in the ninth inning.

Despite hanging around for much of the game, the Mets ultimately lost Game 2, 3-0, giving their NL East rivals a trip to the postseason. And the Mets should probably expect a thank you card from Brian Snitker for one play in particular.

With no outs and a runner on first in the ninth, Brandon Nimmo hit a grounder between first and second that required Ozzie Albies to make a spinning attempt at the lead runner. But Nimmo — usually a full-effort player — ran about half speed to first as the Braves turned the double play. Yet, replays would show that Nimmo clearly beat the throw to first even with his low-intensity pace.

The Mets could have (and should have) challenged the call, and Nimmo would have been ruled safe. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, though, didn’t make the signal to the umpiring crew and allowed play to continue. Pete Alonso grounded out to end the game a pitch later.

So, yeah, that was a massive favor from the Mets. It’s easy to understand why Nimmo wouldn’t want to risk injury with Champagne waiting on ice for him in the clubhouse. But it showed just how unwilling the Mets were to compete once they locked up that playoff spot. They had a celebration to get to and a flight to Milwaukee to catch.

Still, that sequence won’t make Diamondbacks fans happy as they head into a long offseason. It was as big of a gift as you’ll see from a division rival.

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MLB fans absolutely loved the Diamondbacks’ shameless tweet before Mets-Braves Game 2 doubleheader

Well played, D-backs.

When the New York Mets locked up a wild-card spot with their thrilling Game 1 doubleheader win over the Braves on Monday, it answered the first part of the Diamondbacks’ playoff question. And, man, did the D-backs ever jump onboard the Mets bandwagon.

Basically, the three-game tie for two wild-card spots meant that the Braves and Mets would clinch playoff spots with a win in either leg of their doubleheader. But if the Game 1 winner (the Mets) — with nothing to play for — was able to sweep the Braves, it would send the Diamondbacks to the postseason as the National League’s final wild-card team.

So, once that Game 1 went final, the D-backs took to Twitter with a shameless (and excellent) tweet. For one game, they are Mets fans.

Well played, D-backs.

MLB fans also loved how the Diamondbacks embraced this wild final-day scenario.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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The playoff scenarios for the Braves, Mets and D-backs ahead of Monday’s crucial doubleheader

We’re in for a wild Monday.

Going into Sunday’s potentially final day of the MLB regular season, there were several scenarios that could have led to the cancelation of a Monday doubleheader between the Mets and Braves. Instead, we got the absolute chaos scenario.

With the Braves holding a one-game lead over the Mets and Diamondbacks (along with tiebreakers over both teams), Atlanta just needed a win to clinch a playoff spot. The Braves, though, would lose to Kansas City as the Diamondbacks and Mets both cruised to easy wins.

That left us here: a three-way tie for two spots.

With that tie, the Monday doubleheader will happen in Atlanta, and the Diamondbacks are going to need plenty of help. These are the scenarios at play here.

Braves and Mets split the doubleheader

If the Braves and Mets each win a game on Monday, they both will be in as the final two National League wild-card teams. The Braves — holding the tiebreaker over the Mets — will head to San Diego, and the Mets will be off to Milwaukee. Arizona would be eliminated.

Braves sweep the Mets

The Braves would clinch a playoff berth with the win in Game 1. But if they wanted to play spoiler for their NL East rivals, a two-game sweep would eliminate New York and send the Diamondbacks to Milwaukee for Tuesday’s wild-card series.

Mets sweep the Braves

The Mets would clinch a playoff berth with the win in Game 1. And just like above, an additional win in Game 2 would eliminate the Braves. The Mets also hold the tiebreaker over Arizona, so the Mets would head to San Diego in this scenario. Arizona would play the Brewers.

A mutual forfeit??

This almost certainly won’t happen, but the Braves and Mets would be better suited if each agreed to forfeit one game of the Monday doubleheader. This would eliminate the Diamondbacks while both the Braves and Mets would make the postseason as the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds respectively. This would save both clubs from using pitching and traveling a long distance with minimal rest for a playoff series. I wouldn’t count on this happening. But could you imagine?

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4 scenarios for how the Mets-Braves doubleheader could lead both to the MLB postseason

Monday’s doubleheader between the Mets and Braves will likely determine who gets a wild-card spot, but there are several ways both teams could still get in.

The 2024 MLB wild-card race has certainly been a roller coaster, and while the postseason field is now totally set in the American League, there are still two spots to be claimed in the National League.

As things currently stand, those final spots are occupied by the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, which both sit at 87-71 and have a tiebreaker over the fourth-place Arizona Diamondbacks (88-72).

There’s only one hangup: The Mets and Braves conclude the regular season with a doubleheader against each other on Monday. Arizona, meanwhile, has just two more games remaining against the San Diego Padres, who have already punched their ticket as a wild card.

While it may seem like that will spell doom for one of them, there are actually quite a few scenarios where both can clinch an MLB postseason spot.

Here’s a brief rundown of how it could happen.

Diamondbacks lose out, Mets and Braves win next 2, split doubleheader

This is easily the most intriguing possible scenario here as it would establish something of a prisoner’s dilemma for the division rivals entering the doubleheader. A split would lock Arizona out of the wild-card race as Atlanta and New York would finish one game ahead of it if they win their next two games ahead of the doubleheader against the Royals and Brewers respectively.

Diamondbacks split, Mets and Braves split next 2, split doubleheader

Because of the tiebreakers both teams hold over Arizona, they actually don’t even need to win both of their games prior to the doubleheader in the event Arizona splits its next two. If both teams split those matchups and then split the doubleheader, they would both still get in ahead of the Diamondbacks thanks to that tiebreaker.

Diamondbacks lose out, Mets and Braves split next 2, split doubleheader

New York and Atlanta don’t need to win their games on Saturday and Sunday to avoid the necessity of a tiebreaker. Even if they split those games, a doubleheader split would still get both into the field if Arizona drops both games to the Padres this weekend.

Diamondbacks win out, Mets and Braves win next 2, split doubleheader

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, their fate is not in their hands due to the tiebreak. Even if they win their final two games, wins on Saturday and Sunday from the Braves and Mets followed by a Monday split would create a three-way tie and leave Arizona on the outside looking in.

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Joc Pederson’s grounder down the line hilariously turned into a wild Little League home run

The Rockies are down BAD.

The Diamondbacks have been among baseball’s hottest teams since the All-Star break, surging from out of a playoff position to a four-game cushion atop the NL wild card standings. The Colorado Rockies, on the other hand, have remained awful.

That stark contrast was on display early on in the D-backs’ matchup with Colorado at Chase Field on Wednesday.

The Rockies couldn’t even make it out of the first inning without embarrassing themselves in a huge way.

With Joc Pederson at the plate for Arizona, he turned on Tanner Gordon’s changeup for a hard grounder fair down the first-base line. It should have been a two-RBI double for Pederson and ended with that. But Michael Toglia tried to catch Pederson napping at second base, and, uh, some throws should not be made.

Toglia’s throw was extremely off the mark and went all the way to the left-field wall. Pederson got to his feet and scored easily for the Little League home run.

Officially, that went down as a double for Pederson and an error. The D-backs scored four runs in that first inning.

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Umpire Brian O’Nora missed a would-be, game-ending call before the D-backs flipped the game on the Royals

The Royals win that game if we had robot umps.

With Angel Hernandez done as an MLB umpire, baseball generally doesn’t have an active umpire with that kind of notoriety to pile on. But don’t get me wrong — there are still bad umpires working behind the plate in MLB games, and Brian O’Nora is among the worst of them.

The Royals experienced that in a big way on Wednesday night.

With Kansas City up a run with one on and one out in the ninth inning, Royals closer James McArthur should have gotten himself a 3-2 strikeout of Geraldo Perdomo. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was running on the pitch, and Salvador Perez’s throw to second was on the money. This should have been a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play to end the game.

There was just one problem: O’Nora called the pitch a ball.

So, instead of a Royals win, the Diamondbacks then had two runners on with one out. And they certainly took advantage of the new life. Gabriel Moreno hit the go-ahead double, and Ketel Marte blew the game open with a three-run home run. That would-be, 4-3 win for the Royals turned into an 8-6 D-backs win just like that.

In all, O’Nora had a below-average game behind the plate with a 93 percent accuracy. He ranks in the bottom 10 among all MLB umpires, according to Ump Scorecards.

Royals fans were justifiably upset about the missed call. With robot umps, that would have been a win for Kansas City.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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The Royals were absolutely livid after the D-backs hit Bobby Witt Jr. while a single shy of the cycle

The D-backs denied hitting him intentionally.

The Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks couldn’t be further from rivals. They’ve only met 34 times in their history. But you’d never realize that after seeing how Monday night’s game went between the two teams.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is having himself a breakout season, and he put on a show against the D-backs pitching staff in the series opener. Witt tripled, double and homered in his first three at-bats. So, when he came to the plate in the sixth inning a single away from the cycle, the entire crowd at Kauffman Stadium was on their feet. They wanted to see history.

D-backs reliever Humberto Castellanos wouldn’t let that happen.

Castellanos hit Witt with a fastball on the first pitch of the at-bat. The Royals and their fans were furious, thinking that the pitch was intentional. After all, the Royals were up big and hitting a star player with a first-pitch fastball always raises suspicions.

The Royals retaliated the following half inning, hitting catcher Gabriel Moreno — presumably the one who would have called for the Witt plunking — with a 2-1 sinker after working inside for much of the at-bat.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was ejected after both dugouts got warned, and Salvador Perez — who was upset after the initial plunking — had more strong words for the D-backs.

After the game Lovullo strongly denied that the D-backs hit Witt on purpose.

Witt would have another chance to chase that cycle in the eighth inning, but he flew out to finish the night at 3 for 4 with three RBI and three runs. The Royals won, 10-4.

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The D-backs broadcast was left in stunned disbelief after closer Paul Sewald blew his third straight save

That “UGH!” was hilarious.

It truly takes a special type of pitcher to be a closer. You have to be comfortable sitting for an entire game and then being able to lock in for high-leverage situations. And even the best closers will experience struggles. It’s never easy.

Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald is going through one of those tough stretches right now, and it got even worse on Monday night with one of the most defeated announcing moments we’ll hear this season.

Coming off two straight blown saves, Sewald entered the game in the ninth to face the bottom half of the Braves’ lineup. He got two quick outs. But an Eddie Rosario single kept the Braves’ hopes alive. On a 1-1 count, Sewald tried to force Sean Murphy into a roll-over grounder with an outside corner fastball. Instead, he left it up, and Murphy barreled it.

D-backs announcers Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly were stunned.

“And it’s happened again,” Berthiaume said before a solid 15 seconds of silence.

The game-tying home run was Sewald’s third straight blown save, and the Braves went on to win, 5-4, in 11 innings.

D-backs fans certainly related to Berthiaume’s reaction after that one.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Diamondbacks announcer rightfully loses his mind at Christian Walker owning the Dodgers

“It just goes on and on and on! IT’S AMAZING!” 

Christian Walker is the new owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks slugger has gone scorched earth on their NL West rivals, hitting five homers in the three-game series against them. He hit two in a previous three-game series, giving him seven in six games. That’s WILD.

He hit a two on July 4th, and when the last one began its ascent into the sky like a firework, Diamondbacks play-by-play announcer Steve Berthiaume lost his mind, and rightfully so. I love this call so much.

“Christian Walker has taken over Dodger Stadium! There is no explanation for this! It just goes on and on and on! IT’S AMAZING!”

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Mets announcer Gary Cohen had an all-time announcer jinx just seconds before the D-backs’ go-ahead HR

The Metsiest of Mets sequences.

Truly, no MLB team manages to turn disappointment into comedy quite like the New York Mets. And even when SNY announcer Gary Cohen tries to inject some optimism into a broadcast, the Mets find a way to remind him that they’re still the Mets.

The timing of that couldn’t have been any better (or worse, if you’re a Mets fan) on Sunday.

With the Mets leading by a run in the top of the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks, Cohen pointed out that the Mets had lost five games this season that they had led through eight inning. He said that they were hoping to avoid a sixth such loss, and he could hardly complete the sentence before Ketel Marte blasted a go-ahead home run.

If that isn’t an all-time announcer jinx, I don’t know what is. It was the Metsiest of Mets sequences.

That was also Marte’s second home run of the game, and the 439-foot shot secured the D-backs’ 5-4 win.