👋 GOOD MORNING - Happy Friday! We made it through another week, and I hope yours went well!

Now that the Suns have named Jordan Ott the team’s next head coach, all eyes have turned to superstar Kevin Durant, whose future in The Valley is very much in doubt. Rumors have been swirling for quite some time now, and the Knicks are the latest team to surface with potential interest. We may be nearing the NBA offseason, but it’s quite clearly not going to be a boring one here in Arizona.

If you need a joke to get you through to the weekend, here you go: Where do boats go when they’re sick? To the dock!

Let’s run it back next week. On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

It’s impossible to say if the Diamondbacks have turned things around within a span of five days, but holy moly, yesterday’s 11-10 win was one for the ages.

If they can keep this up, they just might be playing in October, after all.

Just last week, in fact, the Diamondbacks suffered a historic collapse, blowing a six-run lead against the Pirates en route to a 9-6 loss. Yesterday, though, they flipped the script in a way that seemed almost impossible to imagine, scoring seven runs in the top of the ninth to stun the Braves 11-10.

According to the D-backs’ own X account, it was the first time they have won a game when trailing by six-or-more runs entering the ninth. For what it’s worth, it’s also only the second four-game winning streak of the season, and second series sweep of the season.

It sure came at a good time. Arizona is back at .500 (31-31) and still within striking distance in the NL West, with plenty of divisional games left to play.

No one would have been overly upset with a loss in Atlanta yesterday considering the Diamondbacks had won three straight and already claimed the series over the Braves. But the rally highlighted a fire that’s still clearly present, quashing media and fan theories that manager Torey Lovullo has “lost” the team — at least for now.

Arizona lit up the appropriately-named Braves reliever Scott Blewett for five runs and three home runs in the ninth before finishing the job against Raisel Iglesias. Diamondbacks infielder Eugenio Suárez capped the rally with a two-out double, just minutes after he struck out to begin the inning.

The D-backs had a .1 percent chance of winning after that. Talk about persistence.

It wasn’t all good news, though. Starter Brandon Pfaadt allowed six runs (five earned) in just three innings of work, and his numbers have grown steadily troublesome after starting the season as the D-backs’ most dependable starter.

He had a combined ERA of 8.10 in the month of May, though that ballooned significantly after his disastrous May 31 start in which he allowed eight runs in the first without recording a single out. There’s time, but Pfaadt needs to reign it in, or he may risk losing a starter’s role altogether.

Still, it’s hard not to be excited after a win like that. Fans have been clamoring for something to cheer for all season long, and it should be noted that the Diamondbacks’ record after 62 games is better than last year’s mark of 29-33, and that team went on to win 89 games.

The next few weeks will be a test for Arizona, which next travels to Cincinnati (30-33) for a three-game series before returning home to host Seattle (32-29) and San Diego (35-26). The Diamondbacks are 6.5 games behind the Dodgers in the West, and only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race.

If they show as much heart as they did yesterday, this team is most definitely capable of making a run.

It All Comes Down To This: The Wildcats baseball team (42-18) kick off their best-of-three series against No. 5 North Carolina (45-13) at the Chapel Hill Super Regional this weekend, beginning today at 9 am AZ time (ESPN2). It’s Arizona’s sixth appearance in the Super Regionals, and the winner of this series advances to the men’s College World Series this week. Good luck!

Winner Winner: The Mercury rallied from eight down in the game’s final minutes to beat Golden State 86-77 last night, led by Lexi Held’s 24 points off the bench. Phoenix continues its Commissioner’s Cup games tomorrow, facing the Storm in Seattle at 7 pm AZ time (Arizona’s Family 3TV).

Acing It: Three ASU women’s golfers were named to the Golfweek All-American lists marking 19 total student-athletes who have received the honor under head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. Sophomore Patience Rhodes was named to the Third Team, and juniors Beth Coulter and Paula Schulz-Hanssen each earned an honorable mention. Rhodes was one of just 10 female collegiate golfers named to the Third Team. Congrats to all!

Rising in Phoenix: Rising FC hosts Orange County SC this weekend, having not lost a match since a 4-1 defeat to Houston on May 7. Tomorrow’s game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 AZ time on Arizona’s Family Sports, as Phoenix looks to continue its momentum after rising all the way to fifth place in the USL Championship Western Conference table.

It’s a Little Drafty: Make sure to check out the NBA Diehard Draft Guide — Led by ALLCITY draft analysts Derek Bodner of PHLY and Will Gottlieb of CHGO, this guide is your one-stop-shop as teams across the league gear up to reshape their rosters

Note the Diehard draft guide is best viewed on desktop or tablet!

An all-timer from the D-backs today!

Leaving work tomorrow for the weekend like…