NL Wild Card recap and highlights: Diamondbacks outslug Rockies to move on

It was a wild night in the west as the Diamondbacks hung on in a close game to win the NL Wild Card game and advance in the 2017 MLB playoffs.

The 2017 MLB Playoffs bracket was finalized tonight as the Arizona Diamondbacks took the NL Wild Card game to advance to the National League Division Series against their NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

Arizona defeated the Colorado Rockies by a final score of 11-8, but despite the final numbers, this was one close game that was a lot of fun to watch.

The action got started in the first inning when the Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt drove in David Peralta and Ketel Marte on a long shot to left field, putting Arizona up 3-0.

Next it was Ketel Marte whose line drive drove in David Peralta in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Daniel Descalso  hit a homer to right field in the 3rd inning to bring the score to 6-0 Arizona.

Colorado answered in the 4th inning when Gerardo Parra sent a single to center field to drive in Nolan Arenado, advancing Trevor Story to 3rd base. Mark Reynolds grounded out but drove in Story, advancing Parra to 2nd base. Then Jonathan Lucroy sent a double to right field that brought in Parra and Alexi Amarista’s single to center scored Lucroy. That brought the score to 6-4 Arizona coming out of the 4th inning.

The 7th inning saw Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon hit a sacrifice bunt to score Lucroy, bringing the game within one. But then Diamondbacks’ relief pitcher Archie Bradley hit his first career triple to score Jake Lamb and Daniel Descalso, giving the D-Backs some breathing room. 8-5 Arizona.

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Bradley’s heroics were key in the 8th inning, because after driving in two runs in the 7th, he gave up back to back home runs to Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story, narrowing the Diamondbacks lead to one. The Diamondbacks answered with an A.J. Pollock line drive triple, bringing in Martinez and Lamb. Next was a two-out bunt from Jeff Mathis to score Pollock, and the Diamondbacks finished the inning up 11-7. The Diamondbacks brought in closer Fernando Rodney to button up the 9th inning. Rodney allowed one run to Carlos Gonzales, who singled to center, but it wasn’t enough and the Diamondbacks won by a final score of 11-8.

This was a game that saw both teams’ ace pitchers leave the game much earlier than expected. Colorado’s Jon Gray exited in the 2nd inning after giving up four runs early on. His final numbers were a 27.00 ERA on 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Arizona got four innings out of Zack Greinke, who posted a 9.82 ERA after 3.2 innings of work, giving up four earned runs on six hits with only one strikeout.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks now move on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series, beginning on Friday, Oct. 6 at 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS.