PHOENIX — Sean Murphy hit a game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning and Marcell Ozuna drove in the decisive run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th as the Atlanta Braves edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Monday night for their third victory consecutively.
Matt Olson led off the 11th with an infield single, moving automatic runner Austin Riley to third. Riley scored on Ozuna’s sack for a 5-4 lead.
Murphy tied it at 3 with a two-run shot from closer Paul Sewald that easily cleared the right center fence. Sewald retired the first two batters in the ninth before Eddie Rosario singled.
“You’re just trying to throw your best shot, keep the line moving,” Murphy said. “I hit the home run, but the idea is just to lift the next one and see what happens. I went on my way and left the stadium.”
Rosario was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day. The veteran outfielder recently signed with the Braves after being released by the Nationals. He was batting .183 with seven homers for Washington this season.
It was Sewald’s third consecutive save after converting his first 11 opportunities this year.
“You just have to finish the inning,” Diamondbacks coach Torey Lovullo said. “He made some really good shots to get to that position and then some mistakes.
“I’m still shaking my head — a two-out home run doesn’t happen very often,” he added. “But that’s been happening to us a bit lately.”
The teams traded runs in the 10th on sacrifice flies by Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies and Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo.
Raisel Iglesias (1-1) got the win with two innings of hitless relief. Joe Jiménez had a scoreless 11th in his second save.
“I thought the bullpen guys did a great job of keeping them under control,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s a good win to get.”
Justin Martinez (3-1) took the loss as the defending National League champion Diamondbacks fell to 45-46. They haven’t been above .500 since April 3.
Arizona took a 3-1 lead in the ninth after scoring three runs in the sixth. Corbin Carroll tied the game with an infield single that scored Perdomo at second. Christian Walker drew a walk with the bases loaded and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Riley gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the first with a 430-foot home run to center. He was the 12th third baseman of the season.
That was the only damage the Braves were able to do against Arizona starter Yilber Diaz in his major league debut. The Venezuelan pitcher showed his potential with a fastball that reached 98 mph and good offspeed command. He gave up one run on four hits and one walk in six innings, striking out five.
Diaz became the 11th starting pitcher this season for the D-backs, who have battled injuries on the mound all year.
Braves starter Bryce Elder threw five scoreless innings before getting into foul trouble in the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out one.
Olson made a stellar defensive play in the sixth that likely saved a run. The first baseman made a sliding catch on a ball over his head in foul territory and then turned to throw, preventing Joc Pederson from scoring and scoring from third.
Atlanta has juggled its pitching rotation after bringing Elder up from Triple-A on Monday. Veteran left-hander Chris Sale — selected to his eighth All-Star team on Sunday — was moved up a day to Tuesday.
NEXT
Sale (11-3, 2.71 ERA) starts against Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (6-4, 3.06).
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