Josh VanMeter hit a walk-off home run and the Arizona Diamondbacks came back to beat the visiting Colorado Rockies 5-4 in the rubber match of a three-game, season-ending series in Phoenix on Sunday.
VanMeter hit a two-out blast to right field off Carlos Estevez (3-5) as Arizona avoided matching the worst record in franchise history.
J.B. Wendelken (4-3) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the D-backs, who rallied from an early four-run deficit to finish at 52-110. The 2004 team went 51-111.
Dom Nunez gave Colorado (74-87) an early lead with a two-run double in the second off Humberto Mejia.
Nunez, who went 3-for-8 with two homers and four RBIs during the series, then scored from second when Raimel Tapia’s single was misplayed by left fielder Henry Ramos.
Mejia is still seeking his first major league victory after allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Colorado added to its lead in the fifth when pitcher Daniel Bard hit a leadoff single for his first career hit and scored on Brendan Rodgers’ two-out triple down the right-field line.
Arizona began its comeback with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Jake McCarthy walked with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error while stealing third.
The D-backs added another run in the seventh on Josh Rojas’ RBI single and pulled even with two runs in the eighth. Ramos singled in a run with one out to cut the lead to 4-3 before Christian Walker scored from third on McCarthy’s groundout.
Rodgers had two hits for Colorado, which was 20-34 through May before going 54-53 over its last 106 games.
Five relievers followed Rockies starter Ashton Goudeau, who allowed one hit over three scoreless innings. The teams used a combined 12 pitchers in the season finale.
–Field Level Media