PHOENIX — Josh Naylor delivered a crucial two-run double as part of a three-hit day, Brandon Pfaadt threw six quality innings, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Sunday, avoiding a series sweep and snapping a four-game skid.
Arizona (15-13), trying to keep up in the highly competitive National League West Division, bounced back after the Braves (12-15), trying to stay out of the cellar in the NL East, took the first two games of the series. Atlanta won 8-2 on Friday, then rallied for an 8-7 victory in 10 innings Saturday despite Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez becoming just the 19th player in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning of Sunday’s matchup, Naylor’s two-out double off Atanta reliever Aaron Bummer fell between left fielder Alex Verdugo and center fielder Michael Harris II after it appeared the pair miscommunicated, giving the Diamondbacks a 6-3 cushion.
Atlanta, which had won three games in a row and seven of its past eight, threatened in the ninth after Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double cut it to 6-4, but with runners on first and second, closer Justin Martinez retired Ozzie Albies on a flyout to end it.
Geraldo Perdomo’s solo homer gave Arizona a 4-1 lead in the fifth, but Atlanta rallied in the seventh with back-to-back RBI singles from Nick Allen and Verdugo that cut the margin to 4-3 with no outs. Diamondbacks right-hander Shelby Miller managed to wiggle out of the jam without further damage, striking out Austin Riley and Ozuna before retiring Albies — who wound up 0-for-5 — on a popup in foul territory.