Nothing separated Arizona and Los Angeles for most of the afternoon at Chase Field. Then the seventh inning arrived, and the Diamondbacks made it count.
Ryne Nelson gave the home team a chance to win. He worked seven innings, allowing 2 runs on 9 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts on 95 pitches. Nelson picked up his third win against five losses, carrying a 4.97 ERA. For most of the game, he and Walbert Urena were locked in a tight, back-and-forth contest that neither team could break open.
The scoring started early and stayed close. Jo Adell's double to right scored Trout in the first, giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. Arizona answered immediately: Gabriel Moreno's infield single to third brought Gerardo Perdomo home to tie it. Lourdes Gurriel singled to right in the fourth to score Corbin Carroll and put Arizona ahead, 2-1. Mike Trout erased that lead in the fifth with a solo home run to right, 371 feet, his 16th of the season, knotting the game at two. Then came the seventh. Pavin Smith homered to right, 384 feet, to put Arizona back in front. Moments later, Perdomo doubled to left and Ketel Marte scored, extending the lead to 4-2. Those two runs proved to be the margin.
Urena absorbed the loss, falling to 4-5. He allowed 4 runs — 3 earned — on 7 hits over 7 innings, with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. His ERA stands at 2.60. Donovan Walton gave the Angels life in the ninth with a solo home run to right center, 401 feet, cutting the deficit to one. But Paul Sewald struck out two in the ninth to close it out, earning his 18th save of the season.
Smith finished 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Trout went 2-for-3 with a homer, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Sewald reached 500 career strikeouts in this game, a milestone achieved while recording the final two outs. Arizona moved to 36-35. Los Angeles fell to 29-43.