PHOENIX (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo is a .200 hitter for the Arizona Diamondbacks who carries himself with the confidence of a .300 hitter.
The fake-it-till-you-make-it approach worked wonders Friday night. The shortstop hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth inning, then made a terrific diving snag on a grounder in the ninth to preserve the lead, lifting the Diamondbacks over the Colorado Rockies 6-5 on Friday night.
“That’s why I work hard, to make plays like that,” Perdomo said. “They give me the opportunity to play every single day and I try to prove to the organization what I have and what we have.”
The Rockies led 5-2 after six innings, but the Diamondbacks cut the deficit to 5-4 after Josh Rojas hit a two-run double in the seventh.
Arizona rallied again with one out in the eighth when Jake McCarthy hit a single and Emmanuel Rivera doubled to put runners on second and third. Carson Kelly grounded out, but Perdomo followed with a soft liner to right-center that just cleared the glove of leaping second baseman Brendan Rodgers.
“The guys kept fighting,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “That’s what I was proud of.”
Perdomo followed in the ninth with a fantastic defensive play, diving for a grounder up the middle by C.J. Cron, before jumping to his feet and firing across the diamond for the second out of the inning.
Alex Colomé (2-5) took the loss, giving up the two eighth-inning runs. Chris Devenski (1-0) got the win with a scoreless eighth. Ian Kennedy worked the ninth for his sixth save.
The D-backs’ rally ruined another quality outing for Rockies starter Germán Márquez, who has thrown well over the past month after a slow start to the season. The right-hander gave up two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out three.
The Rockies put together a…
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