Jeff Banister was tasked Sunday with trying to deliver a win as acting Diamondbacks manager, with Torey Lovullo away from the team to deliver the eulogy at his friend Billy Bean's celebration of life in California.
Banister has been there before, as manager of the Texas Rangers. As Diamondbacks bench coach, he playfully referred to himself as "Employee No. 82" on Sunday and expressed how fortunate he feels to work with Lovullo.
There was Banister in the home dugout, trying to make the right decisions to help the Diamondbacks avoid their first series sweep at home this season. Not everything Banister called went his or the team's way, but the result was a wild 11-10 win in 10 innings over the Milwaukee Brewers.
In a tie game, Banister had reliever Justin Martinez intentionally walk the Brewers' Brice Turang and face rookie Jackson Chourio, who delivered a two-run, go-ahead triple. But the Diamondbacks overcame that 10-8 deficit and scored three runs in the bottom of the 10th to win, capped off by Eugenio Suarez's walk-off hit with the bases loaded.
"I walked him right into their hottest hitter. I know that, that's on me," Banister said. "J-Mart's our guy out there in that situation."
Martinez said it was a good win coming from behind.
"I don't control the decision (to walk Turang)," Martinez said in Spanish. "My job is to face the batter and get him out, it doesn't matter who is up. These are situations in the game and I don't have to understand it, I just have to prevent runs from scoring."
And yet instead of being swept, the Diamondbacks happily boarded a plane for Denver for their next series. They kept pace with the San Diego Padres for the top wild-card spot in the National League and gained a game on the two key teams behind them, the New York Mets and Atlanta.
"I'm riding high right now," Banister said. "I do that every night, though. This is Torey's team, it's our team. I'm just the acting manager. I love having this opportunity to hopefully make good decisions and put players in the right spots -- and not make too many mistakes that our players can't overcome. They played through a couple for us (Sunday).
"It's a roller-coaster ride (Sunday), better than Disney World."
Suarez's single — a long drive off the right-field fence over a drawn-in outfield — drove in Ketel Marte with the winning run.
"It's a lot of emotion," Suarez said. "I never thought to hit a homer, I just wanted to put the ball in play."
Blake Walston, called up from Triple-A Reno before the game, got the last out of the top of the 10th to be the winning pitcher.
The Diamondbacks blew a five-run lead and trailed 8-5 late in the game, but came back to tie and force extra innings.
Suarez's heroics were set up when the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with no outs against Brewers reliever Jared Koenig. Christian Walker then was hit with a pitch to tie the game. Before that, Adrian Del Castillo singled in Kevin Newman to make it 10-9.
Long before the late drama — and their ninth walk-off win of the season — the Diamondbacks led 5-0 after three innings. Three of those runs scored on a Pavin Smith bases-clearing double. But the Brewers made it 5-3 in the fifth, then tacked on four runs off reliever Kevin Ginkel in the sixth to take the lead.
After Milwaukee went ahead 8-5 in the top of the seventh on Sal Frelick's two-out single off Ryan Thompson, the Diamondbacks battled back. Josh Bell led off the bottom of the inning with a double that was close to a home run to center field, and Bell scored on Geraldo Perdomo's single.
Perdomo hustled home from first base on pinch hitter Randal Grichuk's double to make it 8-7. Banister then sent Gabriel Moreno to pinch hit for catcher Jose Herrera.
Moreno was making his first appearance in a game since Aug. 5, when he strained a muscle against the Cleveland Guardians. Off the injured list earlier Sunday, Moreno grounded into a fielder’s choice and Marte grounded out to end the inning.
Moreno didn't enter the game to catch, with Del Castillo finishing up behind the plate.
"Gaby is fine," Banister said. "I'm sure Gaby will be in there (Monday). That was the plan all along. We had him available, but it was pinch hit only."
The Diamondbacks tied it at 8 in the eighth when Corbin Carroll walked, stole second base, took third on a wild pitch and sprinted home on a shallow sacrifice fly from Suarez.
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Celebrating Roberto Clemente Day
The Diamondbacks on Sunday celebrated Puerto Rican Heritage Day and the life and legacy of the late Roberto Clemente, the former Pittsburgh Pirates star known for his play and humanitarian ways.
Players and coaches all over Major League Baseball wore No. 21 patches on their jerseys in tribute to Clemente on Sunday.
Diamondbacks acting manager Jeff Banister has long been a fan of Clemente and often wears a Clemente T-shirt under his uniform.
"He played with his heart, he played with passion, he competed every single day," Banister said. "But he also honored the people who showed up in the stands, and he understood why fans came to the game.
"He had a servant heart, and he gave back every single day. And I think in today's game, that gets lost. That gets lost on all of us, really.
Monday’s Diamondbacks-Rockies pitching matchup
Diamondbacks at Rockies, 5:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.26) vs. Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (0-1, 4.70)* 2023 stats.
At Coors Field: Kelly is coming off a four-inning start on Sept. 11, in which he allowed three runs on four hits against Texas. It's been a struggle at times for Kelly since he came back from a shoulder injury last month, and Kelly is looking for consistency as the Diamondbacks near the postseason. Since 2022, Kelly is 3-0 at Coors Field, with a 2.16 ERA, six walks and 23 strikeouts in 25 innings. Senzatela makes his first major league start in well over a year, having returned from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. His last start was in May 2023. Senzatela made five rehab starts for Double-A Hartford this season and posted a 5.29 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 17 innings. He is 3-9 in 21 career games (17 starts) against Arizona, with a 5.72 ERA.
Coming up
Tuesday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-10, 4.89).
Wednesday: At Colorado, 12:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-3, 5.50) vs. Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (5-10, 4.44).
Thursday: At Milwaukee, 4:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RH Brandon Pfaadt (9-9. 4.81) vs. Brewers TBA
What to know about the Colorado Rockies
Once in a while, the Rockies have a good season. More often than not, they don’t, and 2024 is another struggle in Denver. The Rockies are in last place in the National League West, are out of wild card contention and can only play spoiler against other teams trying to get into the postseason or trying to improve their playoff position. They are 2-8 against the Diamondbacks this season but have won three of their last four games overall. Colorado (57-93) is in the middle of the pack in team batting average this season, but only one other team has struck out more often. They are the only team in Major League Baseball with higher than a 5.00 team earned run average, and Colorado has allowed the second-highest number of home runs to opponents this season.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks drama: Suarez walk-off caps wild day for winning manager Jeff Banister
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