Braves mount last-out comeback, win in extras against Arizona

PHOENIX – This was the type of win that can change a season, the kind you pinpoint as the start of a hot stretch.

The Braves mounted a last-out comeback, then beat the Diamondbacks in 11 innings, 5-4, on Monday at Chase Field.

They turned defeat into victory.

Five observations:

1. Down to his final strike, Eddie Rosario, playing in his first game with Atlanta this season, singled to keep the Braves alive. They still trailed by two when Sean Murphy walked up to the plate.

And, in a moment that brought back memories of the previous two Braves seasons, Murphy blasted a game-tying home run off Arizona closer Paul Sewald. It marked Sewald’s third consecutive blown save.

The home run, which traveled an estimated 431 feet, erased everything that came before it. All the missed opportunities. A poor sixth inning.

This was a new ballgame.

Over the last couple seasons, the Braves became accustomed to ripping victory from the jaws of defeat. If they weren’t clobbering opponents, they were stunning them with late-game heroics. It hasn’t happened much this year, but they recaptured the magic for the ninth inning.

In the eight innings before the blast, the Braves blew multiple opportunities to extend what was once a one-run lead. It seemed they might once again let down their pitching – something that has become a theme this season. Then they shocked the D-backs and their fans.

2. The ninth-inning rally gave Atlanta the momentum it took into extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Jarred Kelenic hit a deep flyout that moved Zack Short – the runner who started extras at second base – to third. And on the ninth pitch of his own at-bat, Ozzie Albies hit a hard liner to right that was caught, but scored Short.

Closer Raisel Iglesias, who pitched a scoreless ninth, came back out for the 10th. The D-backs executed a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to third, then scored him on a sacrifice fly. This became Iglesias’ first two-inning outing since 2021, when he played for the Angels.

Armed with a one-run lead in the bottom of the 11th, Joe Jiménez shut down the D-backs to earn the save.

3. The Braves might not have tied the game in the ninth if not for something Olson did in the sixth inning.

The D-backs led by two runs and had runners at second and third against Holmes. They looked to add to their lead.

Gabriel Moreno popped a ball up in foul territory behind first base, and Olson, who ran back, made a sliding catch with his back to the ball, and somehow slung a strong enough throw home, while slipping on the dirt, to keep the runner at third.

That the Braves even had a chance to mount a comeback is a testament to Olson’s tremendous defense.

The Braves’ bats, however, couldn’t take advantage.

4. The Braves took a one-run lead into the bottom of the sixth. They left with a two-run deficit.

In the frame, the Braves made an error and walked three straight batters – two from Bryce Elder, one from Grant Holmes.

To lead off the inning, Geraldo Perdomo hit a blooper that fell between left fielder Eddie Rosario and shortstop Orlando Arcia. Rosario gave way to Arcia, who was sprinting back. But then the ball went past Rosario as Arcia charged it – an error charged to Arcia. With Perdomo at second base, Corbin Carroll flared a ball into left field to score Perdomo and tie the game.

Then came the ugly part.

Elder and Holmes combined to walk three batters on 14 pitches. The third of those free passes – issued by Holmes to Christian Walker – permitted the go-ahead run. Then Arizona scored another on a sacrifice fly.

Elder’s line – three earned runs over five innings – doesn’t represent how well he pitched. He gave the Braves a chance to break through.

5. Three batters into the game, Austin Riley provided Arizona’s Yilber Diaz – a 23-year-old making his MLB debut – with a welcome-to-the-majors moment. Riley swung at a 97 mph fastball inside and deposited it onto the concourse.

It became the Braves’ only run against Diaz.

The right-hander held Atlanta to that one run over six innings. He worked out of a couple jams.

The Braves had chances to bury Diaz and the D-backs. They failed to do so.

In the third inning, the first two Braves reached and, with runners on first and second, the next three batters – the top of the lineup, no less – made consecutive outs.

In the sixth, Kelenic hit a leadoff single and stole second. The Braves made two outs before Matt Olson walked. And with runners on first and second, Marcell Ozuna struck out looking.

The Braves put the leadoff man on base in the seventh inning. They had one on base with two outs in the eighth.

No runs.

The Braves have had a confusing inability to convert on key opportunities this season. And on Monday, they went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

Then came the ninth, when they tied the game against Sewald.

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