By Mark Carlisle

Independent Newsmedia

PHOENIX — Despite being initially called out on a play at the plate, A.J. Pollock scored the go-ahead run for the Diamondbacks Sunday. Pollock was ruled safe on an obstruction call against Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, scoring the eventual winning run in the D-backs’ 3-1 lead over Houston. Pollock slid into third on an RBI triple to center that tied the game at one. After Carlos Correa’s relay throw bounced off Pollock and sailed wide of third, Pollock scrambled to his feet to run home. In the process, he ran into Bregman and was subsequently tagged out at the plate. (See video here.) Though he was called out, Pollock and the entire D-backs dugout pointed to home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz, who had moved to cover third and was holding his hands up for the obstruction call. Pollock and D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said the team had gone over the circumstance in spring. “We had meetings in spring training. If you get obstruction, keep playing and if you get close to home, if you’re thrown out bang-bang, they’re probably going to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Pollock said. The play gave the D-backs the final lead, but it did not decide the game. Pollock, who had a walk-off RBI single to win Saturday’s game, added an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth. The win gave the Snakes a 2-1 series victory over the reigning World Series champs after Houston’s Gerrit Cole one-hit the D-backs in an 8-0 Astros win to start the series Friday. “You lose the first game of the series the way we did, a lot of frustration, you know the world champs come in here and beat you up pretty good, but we weren’t phased by it and we win the next two games,” Lovullo said. Diamondbacks starting pitcher Matt Koch throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a Sunday's game at Chase Field in Phoenix. [AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin][/caption]Matt Koch (2-0) earned the win for the D-backs. The only run he allowed over 6 1/3 innings was on a solo shot from Bregman in the second. He beat Justin Verlander (4-1), who was tacked with one earned run and one unearned on the Pollock play because of an error called on Bregman. Verlander was stuck with his first loss but still has the American League’s best ERA at 1.17. Koch, at 27, is seeing his most big league action in his seventh pro season after filling in for Taijuan Walker’s spot in the rotation after Walker required Tommy John surgery in early April. “If he doesn’t have a good start when he first got here, he probably felt like he was going to get shipped out. That’s a tough mindset, and it shows a lot of mental toughness when you can come in in those circumstances and execute a game plan and maintain your composure. It’s pretty impressive,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. The win came by D-backs pitchers thwarting Houston’s big bats in clutch situations. Houston outhit the D-backs 7-5 Sunday, but the Astros were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and did not score a run on the lone hit. Arizona’s back-of-the-bullpen trio Yoshihisa Hirano, Archie Bradley and Brad Boxberger combined for 2 2/3 shutout innings with Boxberger earning his 11th save in 11 attempts. The D-backs new closer put two on in the ninth, but got last year’s World Series MVP George Springer to whiff on three 92-mph fastballs to strikeout and seal the victory, stranding the tying run on base. The D-backs also held the Astros of the board after last year’s AL MVP Jose Altuve, who turned 28 Sunday, started the sixth with a triple. After hitting the next batter, Koch struck out J.J. Reddick and induced a tailor-made double-play ball to short from Bregman to get out of the inning unscathed. Hirano inherited a two-on, one-out situation in the seventh but got the team out of trouble with a strikeout and a fly out. Koch, called up as a Band-Aid starter, beat some of the game’s best this week. Not only did Koch led the D-backs to home victories over both of last year’s World Series teams, but he also faced a challenge this week no pitcher has been tasked in over 70 years — he faced two MVP-winners in back-to-back starts. Koch beat Justin Verlander Sunday. He had a no-decision when facing Clayton Kershaw in the D-backs’ 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday, May 1. Verlander, who won the AL award in 2011, and Kershaw, who had the NL honor in 2014, are the only pitchers to win MVP honors this century. According to Stats LLC, the last pitcher to face MVPs in back to back starts was the Chicago White Sox’s Ed Lopat, who faced the Detroit Tiger’s Hal Newhouser and the St. Louis Brown’s Dizzy Dean.

Up next

After a day off Monday, the D-backs start their shortest road trip of the season Tuesday. Zack Godley (4-2) will face Rich Hill (1-1) in the opener of a two-game series against the Dodgers in LA. The D-backs will avoid Kershaw, who just hit the disabled list with a biceps injury.

The last time it happened

Lopat lost against Newhouser and won against Dean. However, the win was over the Browns’ bullpen more than the former MVP. The then 37-year-old Dean came out of a six-year retirement for the start and threw four shutout innings before the pen allowed five runs. The Hall of Famer was a radio broadcaster for the Browns, who was critical of the 59-95 club and had been quoted as saying “Dog gone it, I can pitch better than nine out of the 10 guys on this staff!” Browns general manager Bill DeWitt called Dean on the statement, and Dean took the hill for a short start. Dean backed up the claim, outperforming the other pitchers on the team.

Obstruction

Pollock was held up at third by Bregman, which caused the umpire Ortiz to almost immediately hold up his arm to signal obstruction. However, following the rule — 6.01 (h) in MLB's official rulebook — he waited for the play to conclude before making the call. Pollock said he thought it was obstruction but did not see Ortiz's call as the play was happening. Tired from sprinting to third, he headed for the plate knowing he'd probably be ruled safe even on a close call. "You see the ball scoot by and you know you’re sliding, you’ve got the third baseman on you, he’s going this way, that way — there’s a lot going on and it’s a lot of chaos, but I was trying to just keep playing the game and keep going," Pollock said, adding that he thought it was a pretty clear call. Here is the rule from MLB's rulebook: One of the comments on the rule states that a fielder is entitled to his base while fielding, but loses that entitlement in the event he misses a throw. "It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire" is the takeaway clause from the rule's language. The questions surrounding the play are if Bregman left third to chase the ball in a reasonable time and if Pollock initiated the contact. According to Ortiz, the answer to both was no.