– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker let out a primal scream in the dugout just a few minutes before opening pitch, likely in an attempt to psych himself up. A few innings later, the loud sound from Walker came from his bat, allowing the Diamondbacks to put a temporary halt to their losing slide.
Walker belied a two-out grand slam in the third inning to jumpstart the Diamondbacks, who went on to a 10-1 victory over the New York Mets this afternoon, Randal Grichuk, Blaze Alexander, Jake McCarthy and Kevin Newman each has two hits for Arizona, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
Mets starter Sean Manaea allowed McCarthy (single) and Newman (walk) to reach, allowing Arizona’s lineup to turn over and bring up the heart of the order. Manaea almost got out of the jam, striking out both Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll afterward, before he had to face Randal Grichuk, a player who was 5-for-14 with two home runs against the lefty in his career before today, and roped a single to center field in their first matchup this afternoon. (After today’s 2-for-3 effort with two walks, Grichuk is batting .362 with a .948 OPS in 17 games against the Mets since 2022.)
The Mets decided to pitch around Grichuk, with Manaea walking him on four pitches, and took their chances with Walker with the bases loaded. On the first pitch, Walker crushed a hanging slider into the left field bleachers for his second-career grand slam and a 4-0 lead.
Walker has gotten a hit in nine of his last 10 games, with four home runs and eight runs batted in during that stretch.
Diamondbacks starting pitcher Slade Cecconi, who was called up to the tam yesterday, got the start and went 4 2/3 innings, allowing a run on five hits and struck out four without walking a batter. The only run he allowed was Mark Vientos’ solo home run to lead off the fifth inning that cut New York’s deficit to 4-1. With a runner on second and two outs, Kevin Ginkel came on in relief of Cecconi and got Francisco Lindor to pop out to third to end the inning.
Ginkel would leave the game in the sixth inning after taking a line drive from Brandon Nimmo off the leg that turned into a ground out. The reliever rolled around on the ground in pain for 3-4 minutes before getting onto his feet and limping off to the Diamondbacks dugout.
New York, who saw their two-game winning streak snapped, mounted a rally in the ninth inning after being down 10-1, with a Tomás Nido RBI groundout followed by a Jose Iglesias run-scoring infield single, as he hustled down the line to beat the throw from third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who underestimated Iglesias’ speed while taking his time to throw over. Pete Alonso followed with his 13th home run of the season to provide the final runs of the game.
Before the game, New York Mets legend Darryl Strawberry had his No. 18 jersey retired during a pregame ceremony, which brought together a number of his former Mets teammates that helped bring the franchise its last World Series championship in 1986.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Roberto Carlo. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are seven pictures in total.
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