ST. LOUIS -- Tyler Locklear wasn’t even supposed to be in this spot.
Inserted into Arizona’s lineup as a last-minute replacement for Ketel Marte, who was scratched due to back stiffness, Locklear blasted a go-head two-run homer into Busch Stadium’s left-field corner on Thursday afternoon to boost the Diamondbacks to a 10-6 victory over the Cardinals in a makeup game that was rained out on June 25.
“Not easy to do what he did,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He comes to the ballpark, he’s always preparing to play. I know that. But the lineup goes out the night before, and there’s a couple things he’s probably going to come here and work on. And all of the sudden transitions an hour before the ballgame starts and he’s going to be starting at first base. I think he’s got the right mindset. He’s always ready.”
The homer was Locklear’s first of the season and first since Sept. 1, 2025. He also logged a double in the second inning and an RBI single in the eighth, which helped fuel a five-run rally that broke it open.
“Me and [catcher James McCann] always joke about it,” Locklear said. “Last year, when I hit my first one [of the season in the Majors], he asked if it was my first one [of my career]. And I said no, and he was like, ‘Doesn’t matter. They’re all cool.’”
Locklear confirmed that Thursday’s homer was just as cool as the other five in his career to date.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the breakout eighth and received a standing ovation from his former home crowd in St. Louis. Despite sitting out the first seven innings, he finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt allowed two runs before he recorded an out in the bottom of the first, but the right-hander settled down to complete six innings in his second matchup with the Cardinals since the break. Pfaadt needed 25 pitches to complete the first inning and strand the bases loaded, but he was able to polish off five more innings in just 52 more. He yielded seven hits, walked two and struck out one.
“It’s always tough when you face a team back-to-back times, and we knew that going in,” Pfaadt said. “I think to get out of that [first inning] was huge. [Catcher] Gabby [Moreno] kept everything under control, defense did great, and we were able to recapture the lead there.”
The victory gave Arizona a crucial boost in the National League Wild Card race as the D-backs (54-49) now sit one game up on the Pirates (53-50) and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals (52-50) for the third spot. With taking three of the four games against St. Louis out of the break, Arizona secured the season series (5-2), which holds potential tiebreaker implications.
“I felt like we dodged a bullet and had another breath. And then the boys went out there offensively and took over,” Lovullo said. “Brandon was attacking the zone. He pitched through six innings. I think he fatigued a little bit; he was right at or near his pitch limit. But overall, this day was because of him.”
Arizona has now scored 31 runs to power a modest three-game winning streak. The D-backs’ last two games against the Cardinals this season saw them score 18 runs, including tying a franchise record with a comeback from a 7-0 deficit on July 19.
For a team that has spent much of the season hunting for its offensive identity, the bats appear to be rounding into form at precisely the right time to gain some real ground in the standings.
“It’s awesome,” Locklear said. “You see how deep we are. Even coming off the bench, Nolan getting two hits out of the blue just like that. Doing what he does, and then just being able to give the run support to the pitching and watching them close it out at the end.”
This brief stopover for the Diamondbacks is the first on what is now a four-city road trip. After arriving in St. Louis on Wednesday evening, they departed for a three-game series against the Nationals in Washington D.C. The trip continues from there to Pittsburgh and Cleveland, making a journey along some of the country’s great waterways that befits this particular moment in pop culture.
“Onward,” replied Lovullo, when asked about his team’s current odyssey. “That’s the mindset.”