A bittersweet return to the desert for Varsho

PHOENIX — It wasn’t the result he had hoped for, but Daulton Varsho’s homecoming was special nonetheless.

Varsho tripled and scored in his return to Arizona, but the Diamondbacks rallied late to walk it off and top the Blue Jays 5-4 on Friday at Chase Field. The loss snapped Toronto’s two-game winning streak, though the Blue Jays have still won four of their last six games.

Yariel Rodríguez allowed two earned runs while striking out seven over four innings. The righty has now allowed just three earned runs while fanning 19 over his last three starts — a span of 16 2/3 innings — but struggled with command on Friday, registering 47 strikes on 82 total pitches.

“He pitched out of some trouble, which I felt kept us right there,” manager John Schneider said. “His tempo was a little bit slow today.”

The loss capped an emotional day for Varsho, who appeared in 283 games with the D-backs from 2020-2022 and was drafted by the club in 2017. He fondly recalled his days playing in the desert, even as he’s moved on to pursuing championship dreams with Toronto.

“We were just a bunch of young kids coming up together,” Varsho said. “To see all those guys still over here and doing really well, it’s just pretty cool.”

The 28-year-old hit .235 with 27 home runs and 74 RBIs in 151 games during the 2022 season, and he also became well-known for his defensive ability in the outfield despite being drafted as a catcher. He was traded to Toronto for Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in December 2022 and has since appeared in 244 games for the Blue Jays.

As fate would have it, Varsho was involved in several key plays in Friday’s game.

He first scored on a sacrifice fly in the seventh after legging out a triple earlier in the inning, digging deep around the basepath despite almost seriously injuring his knee on Wednesday. The effort was met with cheers from around Chase Field after he reached third safely.

“I knew I had a chance to get to third,” Varsho said. “I’ve got to be able to score for our team there. It’s a big momentum swing being able to score that run.”

That hustle came as no surprise to Schneider, who has witnessed the perseverance of the outfielder firsthand.

“He still feels it a little bit,” Schneider said. “Varsho’s as tough as they come.”

The Blue Jays tacked on another run to take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but Arizona scored the game’s final three runs to ultimately win the first game in the series in walk-off fashion — another play Varsho was involved in.

The D-backs loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. The speedy Corbin Carroll was on third, and Geraldo Perdomo hit what looked like a foul ball to left field. The ball drifted back into fair territory, forcing Varsho to make a play.

His throw was wide of home plate, allowing Carroll to score the game-winning run standing up.

“Varsho was going to let it drop if it was going to be foul,” Schneider said. “Obviously, with Carroll at third and where the ball was hit, it just kind of came back fair.”

For his part, Varsho said he was puzzled about how the ball reacted off Perdomo’s bat.

“That fly ball is spinning in my head right now,” he said. “In a dome, there’s no wind. That ball should never have come back that far. …I was dumbfounded how that happened.”

Varsho has continued to adjust his game both on the field and at the plate, building upon his first season with the Blue Jays. Midway through the 2024 season, his 11 home runs and 37 RBIs are a little over half of what he registered last year. He’s dialed in on becoming a more complete player — one that Toronto will be proud to cheer on for years to come.

He’s grateful for his time in the desert but even more excited for what lies ahead.

“Outfield has been great for me, and being able to have a little more success at the plate is a bigger goal,” Varsho said. “I’m trying to get back to who I am.”