Left-hander Blake Walston was so fired up, he had to be corralled back onto the field for the postgame handshake line. He had good reason to be.
Walston had just secured the final out of the Arizona Diamondbacks ' second straight extra-inning victory over the Kansas City Royals in the 11th frame, just one outing after he had been activated from the IL following Tommy John surgery . There was no one left in the bullpen to save him.
The Diamondbacks held a 2-0 lead through eight innings, but a two-run homer from Royals outfielder John Rave sent it to extras. Walston allowed one run to score - the 10th-inning ghost runner - in two innings of work. Arizona's hitters, who had been mostly silent all game, collected three runs in the 10th and 11th innings.
When Geraldo Perdomo fired the final out of the 11th to first base, Walston earned his first win since 2024 - a win that put Arizona at 78-68, 10 games over .500 for the first time this season. The return of Corbin Burnes was, somehow, only a footnote .
Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Blake Walston (48) reacts to a called ball by the umpire as he pitches against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 23, 2024. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
"I just blacked out out there, honestly," Walston said, speaking to Todd Walsh of D-backs.TV.
"They told me I was going back out there, [for the 11th], bullpen was empty, so I knew I had to get the job done. Shoutout to the hitters today and everybody else getting the job done as well."
"For the past week, I've been trying to just stay ready if they need me. I'm always ready. ... Late inning, it doesn't matter, I just try to do my job."
It's been a lengthy process for Walston, who was once a first-round draft selection in 2019. The elbow injury that claimed his 2024 season also held him out for all of 2025.
"It was definitely long I feel like you got to go through times where... you got this doubt in your mind of, like, 'oh, I don't know if I'm going to be that player again,' and a lot of that kind of came in my head while I was down," Walston said.
"I had a little hiccup coming back, and there's just a... roller coaster of emotions going on through that period, and you just really got to believe in the Lord, and believe that he put you here for a reason, and I firmly believe that I'm here for a reason. I'm just going to do what I'm doing, and try to make the best of every day."
The Diamondbacks' playoff hopes could come down to the final weekend of the season. In the mosaic that is a 162-game season, Walston has certainly planted a memorable tile.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi as How Diamondbacks' Blake Walston Earned Emotional Win Over Royals .
