Del Castillo's 414-Foot Bomb Gives Arizona the Edge It Needed
Adrian Del Castillo crushed a 414-foot, three-run homer to right in the first inning, swinging Arizona's win probability from 41% to 68% in a single swing. The Diamondbacks held on from there, surviving a furious Milwaukee comeback to win 4-3.
The game was effectively decided before Milwaukee could blink. Del Castillo's first-inning blast — 414 feet, Carroll and Moreno both scoring ahead of him — put Arizona up 3-0 and handed the Brewers a deficit they'd spend the rest of the night clawing at. Brandon Woodruff couldn't stop the bleeding early, lasting just 3.2 innings and allowing 3 earned runs on 2 hits, though his 6 strikeouts suggest the damage was concentrated rather than chronic. The story of the night was Arizona building a lead big enough to survive what came next.
What came next was Christian Yelich reminding everyone he still has pop. His 418-foot shot to right center in the fifth — Brice Turang scoring ahead of him — cut the deficit to 3-2 in a hurry. Turang had been a pest all night, going 3-for-5, and the Brewers looked like a team that had found its footing. Then Arizona answered in the eighth: Ildemaro Vargas doubled to left, scoring Barrosa to push the lead back to 4-2. That insurance run looks, in hindsight, like the one that mattered most. Jackson Chourio's 410-foot solo shot to left center in the ninth made it a one-run game, but Milwaukee ran out of outs. Final: 4-3, Arizona.
Merrill Kelly did enough, working five innings and allowing 2 earned runs on 8 hits with 6 strikeouts — not dominant, but functional. Craig Yoho was the unsung piece for Milwaukee, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings with no hits and no walks allowed, keeping the Brewers within striking distance long enough for Chourio's ninth-inning drama. Jonathan Loaisiga closed it out for Arizona with a clean inning. William Contreras went 2-for-5 for Milwaukee, but the Brewers left too many opportunities on the table against a lineup that needed just one big swing — and got it in the very first inning — to set the tone for the entire game.