W: Takashi Saito (2-1)
L: Ryan Cook (0-1)
S: John Axford 26)
HR: Braun (18)
MVP: Chris Narveson (+.494)
LVP: Francisco Rodriguez (-.321)
The game started off with a bang, as Ryan Braun gave the Crew an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run, his second in as many days. And that was it for a while. Both starters, Chris Narveson and Joe Saunders were pretty dominant for the next five innings
The crew tacked on another in the seventh when Jonathan Lucroy drove in Casey McGehee with an RBI single, giving Chris Narveson and the Crew a 2-run lead. One could argue (and most probably would) that Narveson could have stayed in the game longer. He has seven shut-out innings under his belt, only 87 pitches, and had retired the last 10 batters in order. But that wasn't the case. Instead Ron Roenicke brought in new set-up man Francisco Rodriguez. All would have ended well, but with the help of a misplayed ball by Prince Fielder, the Dbacks were able to score two runs off of Rodriguez and tie the game in the bottom of the eighth.
Takashi Saito began the bottom on the ninth by giving up a lead-off double to Justin Upton, who promptly took third base on a ball in the dirt. With the DBacks winning run a mere 90 feet away with nobody out, RRR brought in Ryan Braun as a fifth infielder. Saito managed to get two ground-outs before getting Sean Burroughs to fly out to Nyjer Morgan, ending the threat.
On to extra innings. Mark Kotsay led off the tenth with a single and immediately took second on a wild pitch. After Corey Hart walk, both base runners were awarded an extra base on a balk by DBacks pitcher Ryan Cook, who was making his major league debut. Tony Plush singled to drive in Kotsay and give the Crew the lead. The Crew added two more before the inning was over with RBI singles from Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the tenth. John Axford faced the minimum in the tenth to earn the save and secure the win.
Unfortunately, it's not all roses and sunshine, as both teams lost a player during tonight's game. Stephen Drew fractured his ankle while sliding into home. Also, Carlos Gomez fractured his collarbone after making a spectacular catch and landing on his shoulder.