PHOENIX – Jason Heyward waited until the 10th inning to extend his hitting streak, then did it in spectacular fashion. But his go-ahead homer still wasn't enough Saturday on a night when closer Craig Kimbrel and two other Braves relievers couldn't prevent the Diamondbacks from scoring.
After Kimbrel blew a save in the ninth inning, Heyward’s two-out homer in the 10th put the Braves back in front 3-2. But the Diamondbacks pulled out a 4-3 walkoff win on Gerardo Parra’s broken-bat bloop single to center with one out in the 11th against struggling David Carpenter.
“(Kimbrel) is human,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves lost for the first time in 28 games when leading after eight innings. “It’s tough to convert one-run saves, and he’s human. I told him that in the dugout. Be ready to go back out there tomorrow if the opportunity arises. Get back on the horse.”
Miguel Montero homered off Braves reliever Anthony Varvaro in the 10th inning and Carpenter gave up two hits and a walk in the 11th. Parra’s hit was just the second for the Diamondbacks in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position Saturday.
One night after Kimbrel broke the Braves franchise record with his 155th career save, he blew a 2-1 lead after walking a .188 hitter in the ninth inning and giving up a game-tying double to pinch-hitter Aaron Hill.
“It kind of sucks, you give up one run and it’s blown,” said Kimbrel, who has three blown saves in 19 opportunities. “I’m going to give up runs; pitchers give up runs. It just seems like at times this year they’re one-run ballgames when I do. It’s unfortunate, but you’ve got to go out there next time and make sure it doesn’t happen.”
The Braves had a chance to take another lead in the 11th when former Brave Randall Delgado walked Freddie Freeman to start the inning. But the next three batters — Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Chris Johnson – all struck out against Delgado, who came in with a 7.16 ERA and .293 opponents’ batting average.
Heyward’s long homer to the right-field seats off closer Addison Reed was his seventh of the season and fourth during an 11-game hitting streak. It gave the Braves a 3-2 lead, but Montero tied the score again with his one-out homer off Varvaro in the bottom of the inning.
“We were able to come back and get the lead,” Heyward said. “Regardless of who did it, it was just nice to stay in the game right there and keep fighting. We had an opportunity to win and they made the most of it. They put some (at-bats) together and that broken-bat hit there at the end, it looks like a line drive tomorrow (in the boxscore).”
The Diamondbacks forced extra innings after Kimbrel walked No. 8 hitter Endere Inciarte with one out in the ninth. Inciarte stole second and Hill’s opposite-field double down the right-field line drove in the tying run. Kimbrel struck out the next two, fanning Parra to end the inning with a runner at third after a wild pitch. But the damage was done.
The blown save came a night after Kimbrel retired all four batters in faced to break John Smoltz’s career franchise saves record.
“You don’t walk guys and let them steal second,” Kimbrel said. “I mean, that’s kind of what happens when you let a guy get two free bases like that. A base hit just inside the line scores a run and we’ve got a tie ballgame and extra innings. So it was a tough game. Ervin (Santana) went out and threw well. We had big hits at good times.
“Even the top of the next inning, Jason coming up and hitting the homer, was big too.”
Evan Gattis had three hits including the sixth-inning RBI double, his second double of the game. After Justin Upton’s two-out single, Gattis doubled to the left-center gap and Upton hustled to score from first for a 2-1 lead.
The catcher is 13-for-35 (.371) with four homers and 10 RBis in a nine-game hitting streak.
Braves starter Santana worked out of trouble for most of seven innings, allowing six hits and only one unearned run. The leadoff batter reached base in each of the first five innings against him, three via hits, one by error and another by a walk.
The Diamondbacks had at least one base runner in every inning against Santana until the seventh, when he retired the last three batters he faced on grounders. The right-hander finished with two walks and one strikeout.
“I had a couple of problems in a few innings,” Santana said, “but was able to keep getting big outs in big situations.”
Rookie Shae Simmons worked around a leadoff single in the eighth inning to record his third hold to go with one save in five appearances since being called up from Double-A, before Kimbrel stumbled in the ninth, Varvaro in the 10th, and Carpenter in the 11th. Kimbrel and Varvaro got blown saves and Carpenter (4-1) took the loss.
Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley had been 1-5 with a 6.43 ERA and 11 home runs allowed in seven home starts before Saturday, when the left-hander limited the Braves to six hits and two runs (one earned) in seven innings, with no walks and five strikeouts.
Half of the hits against him came from Gattis, who is 10-for-22 (.454) with three homers and three doubles against lefties. His two doubles off Miley included one that would’ve been a home run in most any other major league ballpark.
The Diamondbacks took an early lead with an unearned run in the second inning on a throwing error by second baseman Dan Uggla, who made his first start in nine games since Tommy La Stella arrived from Triple-A. Uggla also made a fielding error to let the leadoff runner reach in the third, but Santana worked around that.
After consecutive singles by Prado and David Peralta to start the second inning, Chris Owings lined out to Uggla, who alertly threw to second base to almost double off Prado. But he didn’t get that out, and Inciarte followed with a grounder near second base that bounced off shortstop Andrelton Simmons and to Uggla.
Uggla stepped on second for one out and then rushed an off-balance throw that sailed wide of first baseman Freddie Freeman, allowing Prado to score for a 1-0 lead.
“I thought maybe (the errors were) just a matter of just not being out there, being rusty, because he’s pretty solid defensively,” Gonzalez said. “But he bounced back, as professional as he is, and made a terrific play there in the last inning.”
The Braves answered with an unearned run of their own in the third, after Simmons led off with a double and advanced to third on right fielder Parra’s throwing error on the play. One out later, Heyward hit a fielder’s choice grounder and third baseman Prado’s throw to the plate was high, allowing Simmons to slide in with the tying run.
Gattis extended his hitting streak with a second-inning single, then pounded a double off the center-field wall above the 407 (feet) sign with one out in the fourth. That double would’ve been a homer in all but two or three major league parks, but Gattis rumbled into second base and had to hope a teammate could drive him in.
Slumping Chris Johnson followed with a groundout to second base and Uggla struck out to end the inning.
