PHOENIX — Joe Mather was the first to see it in the Diamondbacks dugout.
The Arizona hitting coach leapt onto the bench and then over the railing. Next to him, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo finally located the ball and realized that Ryan Waldschmidt had just hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 win over the Dodgers.
“I lost it just for a second because it gets a little dark out there, and there’s a lot of light colors with the baseball,” Lovullo said. “But I saw the person reaching for the ball in the stands, and I was like the third guy that saw it because Joe Mather was already climbing out of the dugout. It was a very, very, very surreal moment.”
Back in the clubhouse, Kelly, who had started the game and had a no-hitter through five before giving up a couple hits and having to leave with a left hamstring cramp in the sixth, was at his locker watching the game on television.
One TV showed an overhead view of the diamond. That was the live feed. The other TV was the broadcast feed and that was slightly delayed.
Deep inside the bowls of Chase Field, Kelly heard the muffled roar of the near capacity crowd. He looked at the overhead feed and saw Waldschmidt jogging, but he didn’t know what happened.
Then he turned to the delayed feed and watched the ball go into the stands. And just like that, a frustrating night for the right-hander turned into one of joyous celebration.
“I got to watch different pieces of it,” Kelly said. “So that was pretty cool.”
When he hit the ball, the rookie Waldschmidt just put his head down and sprinted out of the box. It wasn’t until he rounded first that he realized he was the latest hero for the Diamondbacks.
“I started sprinting, and if it didn’t get out, I was going to try and get to third, because there was only one out and it makes it a lot easier on the next guy to walk it off,” Waldschmidt said. “So I started sprinting, and then I heard everyone kind of go crazy, and I looked up, and both the outfielders were just looking into the stands. So I was like, ‘That’s pretty sweet.'”
Things have been very sweet for the Diamondbacks of late. A big surge that started with a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles just prior to the All-Star Break now has them at 62-55 and tied with the Phillies for the second NL Wild Card spot.
Arizona is six games behind the Cubs for the No. 1 spot and two games ahead of the Padres, who are the first team on the outside looking in.
It was the Diamondbacks’ fifth straight win against the Dodgers and they are 17-8 in their last 25 games.
“I think it’s good for us,” said Kelly. “[We’re] hitting our stride at the right part of the season, and I think, obviously, any time that you can win games later in the season against not only good competition, but the competition that you’re going to be hopefully competing against when the lights turn on and when stuff really gets serious, I think it’s good for the guys in here.”
It’s also good for the Diamondbacks to see that Kelly was not seriously injured and was just experiencing cramping issues that have bothered him in the past. The team has consulted specialists and worked on trying to find a solution.
It seemed to no longer be a concern, as Kelly had not had to leave a game due to cramping since May 2, 2025, but they will once again go back to the drawing board.
Another piece of good news for the Diamondbacks is the way Waldschmidt has been swinging the bat of late after having the usual rookie adjustment period.
Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz struggled throughout the inning with his slider, which didn’t seem to have a sharp bite to it. It’s the pitch that Waldschmidt eventually hit for the homer.
In his earlier at-bats against different pitchers, Waldschmidt felt like he was not on the slider, so before the at-bat against Díaz, he looked at some video on the dugout tablet and made an adjustment that would pay off.
“I put a good swing on the slider prior that I fouled off,” Waldschmidt said. “I thought I just missed it. I thought it was a good swing though, and he ended up throwing me a very similar pitch afterwards and I just tried to stay on it and hit it through the middle.”
