Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera, left, tags out Oakland Athletics’ Tony Kemp at home plate during the seventh inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Arizona D-Dacks rebounded from a 9-8 defeat in 12 innings Tuesday night to beat the A’s 5-3 Wednesday afternoon. The two starters, Oakland’s Luis Medina and Arizona’s Kyle Nelson were in a pitchers’ duel for the game’s first six innings.

Nelson allowed a single to Esteutry Ruiz in the first and kept the A’s hitless until he left the game in the sixth. Medina allowed three hits in his six innings. Two of the hits were home runs. He allowed a solo blast in the second to Christian Walker and a two-run shot of the bat of Corbin Carroll in the sixth. 

The D-Backs won the series two games to one.

The D-Backs drew first blood in the top of the second inning. Leadoff hitter Christian Walker sent Luis Medina’s 79 mph curveball over the wall in left field. For Walker, it was his 11th dinger of the year. Medina settled down and retired the next three hitters. Arizona leads 1-0 midway through the second inning.

The D-Backs plated two more runs in the top of the sixth. With one out, Luis Medina issued a walk to Geraldo Perdomo. The next hitter, right-fielder Carbin Caroll sent Medina’s 91 mph four-sea1m fastball over the wall in center field. Esteury Ruiz tried to make a leaping catch, but the ball went past his grasp.

It was Carrol’s sixth blast of the year. The D-backs lead 3-0. D-Backs’ starter Ryne Nelson, who had allowed the A’s one hit in the first five innings, suddenly couldn’t find the strike zone in the bottom of the sixth. He walked three batters to load the bases. He also uncorked a wild pitch. The A’s had two chances to get runners in. The D-Backs’ manager, Torey Lovullo, brought Luis Frias to pitch. Frias did the job by retiring the next two hitters to end the inning. The D-Backs lead 3-0 after six.

The A’s tied the score in the seventh. Still pitching for Arizona, Luis Frias walked the first two batters in the inning. Frias now had to deal with Ramon Laureano. Laureano settled the issue by blasting his fifth home run of the season out of the park to tie the game.

The A’s blew an opportunity for another run when Tony Kemp got thrown out at home. After Laureano’s homer, Kemp singled. Nick Allen laid down a sacrifice bunt, sending Kemp to second. Esteury Ruiz, so good when hitting with runners in scoring position, singled to short center field. Kemp was thrown out attempting to score on the hit. The game is now tied 3-3 after seven.

With Shintaro Fujinami on the mound to start the ninth, the right-hander from Japan had things go south quickly. The D-Backs’ leadoff hitter, Lourdes Guriel, Jr, doubled leading off for Arizona. Fujinami retired Pavin Smith for the first out. The A’s issued an intentional walk to Dominic Fletcher.

Fujinami walked Emmanuel Herrera to load the bases with one out. A’s manager, Mark Kotsay, brought Adrien Martinez in to pitch to Jose Herrera. Herrera hit a sacrifice fly to drive the D-Backs’ fourth run of the game. Ketel Marte singled, and Arizona plated another run. The D-Backs lead 5-3. The A’s failed to score in their half of the ninth. Arizona wins 5-3.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 10-35. The D-Backs improve to 25-19. 

The A’s starter Luis Medina gave up three hits in six innings. Two hits were home runs, and the other was a double. Medina’s line was six innings, three hits, three runs, two homers, six strikeouts, and two walks. Arizona’s starter Ryne Nelson allowed one hit and no runs in five and 1/3rd innings. He struck out six and walked four. After giving up a hit to Esteury Ruiz, the leadoff hitter in the first inning, Nelson held the A’s hitless until his exit in the sixth inning. 

The hitting start for Oakland was Ramon Laureano. Laureano’s home run in the seventh tied the game. 

The line score for Oakland was three runs, five hits, and no errors. Arizona’s line was five runs, six hits, and no errors. 

The A’s are off on Thursday. The A’s will travel to Houston to face the Astros at Minute Maid Park For three games starting Friday night. Left Ken Waldicchuk (1-2, 7.02 ERA) goes for Oakland Astros manager Dusty Baker has not named a starter for Friday night’s game.

The time of the game was 2:51 minutes. 4,133 were on hand to watch the A’s lose for the 35th time this season.