Between injuries and a losing skid, the Arizona Diamondbacks entered Monday night’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Chase Field in Phoenix looking to get some good news in the form of a win. That’s exactly what the D’backs got, but not before being taken on a wild rollercoaster ride.
Arizona had a 4-0 lead going into the ninth inning of the contest, with closer Justin Martinez on the mound to try to shut the door on the Mariners. He recorded two punchouts in a row by striking out Jorge Polanco and Randy Arozarena. Martinez then walked Dylan Moore and failed to get through the next batter, Donovan Polanco, after experiencing tightness in his throwing elbow.
Seattle removed Martinez from the mound and replaced him with Jeff Brigham, who immediately faltered. Brigham gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Solando and Cole Young, while Dominic Canzone smashed a massive two-run home run to tie the score at 4-4.
It was a disaster in the making for the Diamondbacks, who were fresh off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds on the road and had just placed pitcher Kendall Graveman on the 15-day injured list and lost ace Corbin Burnes for the rest of the season because of an elbow injury.
The top of the ninth ended with Juan Morillo retiring Cal Raleigh, who is leading the big leagues in home runs through Monday with 26.
The Diamondbacks failed to score a run in the bottom of the ninth frame and neither team did so in the 10th inning. Seattle again went scoreless in the top of the 11th frame before Josh Naylor finally ended the night with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the inning to give Arizona the 8-4 victory.
JOSH NAYLOR CRUSHES A WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM
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That was the eighth home run in the 2025 season by Naylor, who battled Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas for five pitches, the last one a 91 mph cutter that the first baseman sent 387 feet deep. On the season, Naylor is hitting .290/.346/.457. He is also leading all Diamondbacks hitters with a .350 batting average when there are runners on.
The Diamondbacks improved to 32-24 after the win over Seattle, 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the National League West standings.
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