Diamondbacks win emotionally charged wild-card game, move on to face Dodgers in NLDS

After a game unlike any they could remember playing, the Diamondbacks danced, poured beer in each other’s mouths and looked ahead. They had survived a do-or-die affair. The Los Angles Dodgers are next.

The Diamondbacks’ 11-8 win over the Colorado Rockies in the National League wild-card game earned them a full pass into baseball’s postseason. They’ll open a best-of-five series at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

It took so much for them to get there. They built a six-run lead, watched it get whittled to one, and twice had to scramble to build it up again. Every time it seemed like they were ready to take a breath, the Rockies came charging back at them.

“After today, I’ve pretty much seen everything,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was a crazy game.”

The Diamondbacks’ ace, Zack Greinke, was chased in the fourth. Their No. 2 starter, Robbie Ray, logged 2 1/3 innings in relief. Their best reliever, Archie Bradley, contributed more at the plate than he did on the mound. And the Diamondbacks’ lineup seemed to produce a new hero every inning.

“From the atmosphere to the big-time plays, the big-time hits, the back-and-forth, it was awesome,” center fielder A.J. Pollock said. “It was incredible. I’m exhausted.”

A day after the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins engaged in a slugfest in the American League wild-card game, the Diamondbacks and Rockies authored one of their own. The Diamondbacks sat back on Tuesday night and watched from afar. Players said over and over how the AL game gave them perspective on what might be in store on Wednesday.

“Every swing, every pitch, every play carries so much weight,” Bradley said.

But early on it felt like a game that would be devoid of drama. Eight pitches into the bottom of the first, the Diamondbacks had a 3-0 lead on the Rockies and their ace right-hander Jon Gray.

It happened in unexpected fashion. When Paul Goldschmidt came to the plate with two on and none out, he was hitless against Gray in 11 career at-bats, including going 0 for 9 with five strikeouts this season. None of it mattered, not when Gray spun a hanging curveball on the first pitch, a ball that floated in about letter-high.

Goldschmidt turned on it, sending a drive to left that went nearly as high as it did far. It landed four rows deep in the left-field stands and sent Chase Field into a frenzy.

The Diamondbacks’ bats didn’t let up. Marte shot the first of two triples into the right-center field gap to score a run in the second, and Daniel Descalso hooked a two-run shot into the right-field seats in the third. That made it 6-0, Chase Field was buzzing, and the game felt all but over.

But things unraveled for Greinke in the fourth. After two of the first three Rockies singled to open the inning, the Diamondbacks’ lead began to slowly melt away.

Gerardo Parra singled to center for the Rockies’ first run. Mark Reynolds hit a topper to first for a run-scoring ground out. Jonathan Lucroy doubled to right to score another, and after Alexi Amarista knocked a pinch-hit single to center the lead was down to an uncomfortable two runs.

In the bullpen, Ray began to get loose. In a perfect world, he would have sat idle the entire night, pointing toward a Game 1 start against the Dodgers. But his final outing of the regular season was cut short on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City in case a situation like this arose.

And as he warmed up, he said he could feel his pitches working like they should, a sensation that carried over once he entered the game for the top of the fifth.

“From Pitch 1,” Ray said, “I was locked in.”

Ray recorded seven outs for Lovullo, working into the seventh and temporarily restoring order to a game that had begun to go sideways. The Rockies scratched across a run in the seventh, cutting the lead to 6-5, and that was the score when Jeff Mathis struck out for the second out in the bottom of the seventh.

Two were on and Bradley, who recorded the final out of the previous half-inning, was due up. Two weeks ago, in San Diego, Bradley got a rare at-bat and laced a base hit into right field. He said Wednesday night that at-bat was almost like a dry run for a moment like this in October.

“We talked about it,” Bradley said. “That’s kind of why I hit in San Diego. It’s why I’ve been taking batting practice lately. They told me in these games and situations where my spot will come up and I’ll have to go back out, depending on the situation they’re going to give me an at-bat.”

Bradley took full advantage. With the count 2-2, Rockies reliever Pat Neshek threw a slider that Bradley laced into the gap in left-center field. Both runs scored, and after Bradley popped up from his slide into third, he stared up into the crowd.

“It’s something you dream about,” Bradley said. “Getting an at-bat in the (seventh) inning of the wild-card game and getting a chance to do something special, then to come through like that, it’s something I’ll never forget.”

And yet the Rockies still would not go quietly. In the eighth, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story hit back-to-back homers off Bradley, cutting the Diamondbacks’ lead back to one run. But the Diamondbacks responded.

With two on and two out in the eighth, Pollock drove the Diamondbacks’ fourth triple into the gap in right center, scoring a pair, and, two batters later, Jeff Mathis dropped an RBI bunt single that Rockies pitcher Greg Holland couldn’t handle. That made it 11-7, which was more than enough for closer Fernando Rodney, who gave up a run on a pair of singles in an otherwise drama-free ninth.

“We needed it,” Goldschmidt said. “It was just one of those games. That’s the only way for us – and really, probably, for every team – that you’re going to have success in regular season or playoffs. You’re going to need every guy.”

By midday Thursday, the Diamondbacks will be on their way to Los Angeles. They’ll work out at Dodger Stadium in the evening and prepare for a series against a team that had the best record in baseball – a team that does not intimidate them in the least.

“As a team, we have confidence going in there,” Lamb said. “I think we match up really well.”

BICKLEY: Diamondbacks shine again on brink of elimination

MOORE: Bradley gets through emotional roller coaster to help win

MORE D-BACKS: Crazy victory sets a club record no one expected