By Nick Piecoro | Arizona Republic
The cast has changed for the Diamondbacks, only they keep playing out the same tired script, one brutal night after another. In a deathly quiet visitors’ clubhouse, players sat motionless in front of their lockers late Wednesday night, seemingly stunned by the realization that their misery could reach new depths.
Yoshihisa Hirano, only recently given the reins in the closer’s role, became the latest Diamondbacks reliever to get beat in excruciating fashion, serving up D.J. LeMahieu’s opposite-field, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
The Diamondbacks were two outs away from shaving their deficit in the National League West to just 1 1/2 games. Instead, it could grow to 4 1/2 games by the time they leave town on Thursday evening.
Handed a 4-3 lead in the ninth, Hirano allowed a leadoff single to Gerardo Parra, a hard-hit ball that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt could not handle, and, two batters later, Hirano left a fastball over the plate that LeMahieu smacked into the right-field seats.
“It’s pretty painful, it’s obvious,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know we play this game for 27 outs and we can’t seem to close the deal when we need to. These are important games, we know that, and we’re doing a lot of things right with the exception of finishing the games off.”
BOX SCORE: Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 4
