Diamondbacks closer to clinching after Iannetta grand slam stokes rally over Marlins

Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta pumped his fist as he rounded first base, high-fived his teammates after he caught up to them at home plate and then tipped his batting helmet once the cheers inside Chase Field finally swelled enough to pull him out of the dugout for the first curtain call of his career.

“It was really cool after the fact,” Iannetta said. “It was a little awkward at the time. I’m not a big fan of the attention. (But) it was cool. I’ll always remember it.”  

This wasn’t a typical celebration, but neither were the circumstances that preceded it.

After falling behind in an early tug-of-war with the Marlins that saw right-hander Zack Greinke stumble to his worst outing of the season, Iannetta smacked a sixth-inning grand slam to rack up a career-high eight RBIs and propel the Diamondbacks to a 13-11 win that cut their magic number down to 2.

Arizona has a chance to clinch Saturday.

“This is why the whole team works hard is to play in meaningful games in September,” Iannetta said. “We’re fortunate enough to play those games. We haven’t accomplished any goals yet, so we gotta keep on and win some more games.” 

In getting this close to sealing a postseason berth for the first time in six years, Arizona has produced its fair share of thrilling comebacks in 2017. But the significance of this one was certainly unique with Iannetta swooping in after Greinke faltered.

Iannetta finished with a career-high eight RBIs, adding a three-run homer in the first and RBI single in the second to go along with his fifth career grand slam. It was his third career multi-homer game, and he was just one RBI shy of the team record.

He also became the only player in the majors this season with multiple seven-plus RBI games, according to ESPN Stats & Info, and is just the 10th catcher since 1913 with two-plus home runs and at least eight RBIs in a game. Iannetta is also only the 21st player since 1913 with multiple seven-plus RBI games in a season.

“We’re definitely a close-knit group, and we definitely try to pick each other up at all times,” Iannetta said. “It’s been a different guy every night. It hasn’t been one guy the whole year. Our big boys have been playing really well, don’t get me wrong. But there’s been a lot of guys that have stepped up over the course of the season that have given us some big hits, some big pitches, some big outings. That’s what it takes to win.” 

Greinke couldn’t get in a rhythm, giving up two runs in each of the first two innings, three in the third and one more in the fourth before exiting the game.

Miami left fielder Marcell Ozuna smacked a hanging curveball to deep center field for a two-run shot in the first. Doubles from shortstop Miguel Rojas and second baseman Dee Gordon scored two more in the second, and first baseman Justin Bour launched a three-run homer in the third.

Bour’s blast tied it at 7, a tough blow as the Diamondbacks battled to keep pace with the Marlins through the early innings. After Iannetta smacked his three-run homer in the first, the Diamondbacks added another four in the second to push ahead again. Greinke and right fielder J.D. Martinez had RBI doubles, while Iannetta and left fielder David Peralta had run-scoring singles.

After pulling even in the third, the Marlins went up 8-7 in the fourth on Ozuna’s second homer of the game and 36th of the season.

Powerhouse Giancarlo Stanton, meanwhile, went 0-for-3 against Greinke, but it didn’t matter – what with every other position player getting at least a hit off Greinke, who would have tied Randy Johnson at 14 for the most single-season wins at home in team history.

And with only four innings of work Friday, Greinke remains 1 2/3 innings shy of throwing at least 200 for the seventh time in his career.

“Just was bad I guess from the get-go,” Greinke said. “Didn’t feel like things were real sharp. Location was all right but anytime I felt like I threw a good pitch, they didn’t swig at it and when I made a bad pitch, they were ready to hit. So it was just a bad combination all the way around.” 

Up 9-7 after tacking on another run in the fifth, the Marlins threatened to grow their lead in the sixth after a leadoff single by Gordon. But right-hander J.J. Hoover got Stanton to strike out before getting center fielder Christian Yelich to fly out and Ozuna to strike out to end the inning.

That inning helped pave the way for the huge swing in the bottom of the inning. Before Iannetta’s grand slam off a Dustin McGowan fastball, Christian Walker knocked in a pinch-hit homer to add to the five-run inning.

Miami tried to rally in the eighth, getting two runs against setup man Archie Bradley, but Martinez’s 26th home run with Arizona gave closer Fernando Rodney a two-run cushion and he punched his 39th save of the season and became the 28th player with 300 in his career.

“First of all, I say, ‘Thank you, God, for keeping me healthy,” Rodney said.

It was a memorable moment set up by that essential five-run sixth.

Outbursts like that aren’t usually necessary when Greinke starts but with the Diamondbacks looking to lock up their playoff plans, the timing couldn’t have been better.

“There was a little extra charge in our day, and you could see how excited C.I. was when he hit that grand slam,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think that was an indication as to where we’re at and the feeling that we have inside the dugout.” 

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