Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hits home run in return from injured list

MILWAUKEE — It didn’t take long for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to make his presence felt in the D-backs lineup.

The Arizona left fielder returned from a nearly three-week absence due to a strained left calf and hit a key homer to help the D-backs beat the Brewers, 7-4, on Friday night at American Family Field.

The win was the third in a row for the D-backs, who have now won the first two games of this four-game set and the combination of their win along with losses by the Mets and Braves helped Arizona in the NL Wild Card standings.

The D-backs hold the No. 2 Wild Card spot leading the Mets by one game and the Braves by three. Arizona has eight games remaining.

The D-backs led 4-0 before the Brewers put together a four-run rally in the fifth inning, which included three homers, to tie the game and chase Arizona ace Zac Gallen from the game before the sixth.

It felt at that point like the momentum had shifted to the Brewers’ side of the field, but if it did, it didn’t stay there for long.

That’s because Gurriel led off the top of the sixth with a homer to left-center igniting a three-run rally as the D-backs reclaimed control of the game.

Managers talk all the time about the importance of a shutdown inning — not allowing the opponent to score in the inning right after you do — and that was something Brewers manager Pat Murphy lamented after the game.

“You know they’re going to fight back, they’re that type of team,” Murphy said. “They’re one of the best offenses in baseball. That’s all there is to it. They got [almost] everybody back from a World Series team and added to a World Series team. You get [Gallen] out of there, we’ve got a chance to win the game. But they came back strong.”

The D-backs lead the Majors in runs scored, and the sixth inning was an example of how they’ve done it.

Yes, they got the homer from Gurriel, but they also beat out an infield single and drew three walks, one of which was intentional.

“Our middle relief, we didn’t throw well,” Murphy said. “The walks are what killed us. You can give up a scratch hit or an infield hit or a four-hopper the other way that gets through, but when you walk two people, that’s a [problem]. We don’t do that too often, so I’m going to say that’s an aberration.”

These types of games, however, have not been an aberration for the D-backs.

“Gurriel not allowing a shutdown inning, hits a home run to give us the lead right back,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “That’s one of the great ingredients of this team. They’re very hungry, they’re stubborn and they’re built to win baseball games, and that’s what happened today.”

Gurriel injured his calf on Sept. 1, and while he waited for it to fully heal, he did as much work as he could hitting off the Trajekt hitting machine to try and stay sharp.

Thursday, he played four innings and had three at-bats in a simulated game at the team’s Spring Training complex in Arizona and then hopped on a plane to Milwaukee.

“I feel great satisfaction, one, by being able to be back on the field in a crucial week like this is,” Gurriel said. “And then I not only came back, I got the opportunity to help the team, too. So it’s a great night for me.”

Pavin Smith filled in primarily while Gurriel was on the injured list and he’s played extremely well, slashing .385/.490/.897 during Gurriel’s absence.

That’s not to say the D-backs didn’t miss the veteran’s presence.

“Stability, consistency,” Lovullo said of what Gurriel brings to the lineup. “He typically hits three or five [in the lineup], and it’s just a very dependable at-bat in the middle of any situation. It was nice to see him, see him running out to the left field today.”