The Diamondbacks kept applying pressure and the opposition couldn’t seem to handle it. The first two innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Sept. 21, felt not just representative of the Diamondbacks’ style of play, but almost like a microcosm of the way the National League playoff race is trending.
With their 9-2 win at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks moved to within one game of both the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds for the NL’s final wild-card spot.
Corbin Carroll homered and stole a base, becoming the first player in Diamondbacks history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases. Eduardo Rodriguez turned in six-plus innings of scoreless work. And the Diamondbacks won another series against a tough opponent, ensuring that they will enter the final week of the regular season with a legitimate shot at October.
“I still think that a lot has got to go right for us,” Carroll said. “Each one of these games obviously matters a ton, so we’ve got to take it one game at a time, and at the same time not let it create unneeded pressure and still play free, like we’ve been playing these last couple weeks.”
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, right, celebrates with Jorge Barrosa (1) after hitting a three-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning, Sept. 21, in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks have been the ones applying pressure. Thus far, rival clubs barely have been able to hold them off. At 79-77, the Diamondbacks are behind the Mets and Reds, who own identical 80-76 records.
Carroll said he was tracking the Mets games against the Washington Nationals — he saw the two highlight-reel grabs turned in by Nationals center fielder Jacob Young to help preserve Washington’s 3-2 win — and knew his team could climb a bit closer with a win of its own.
“We’re not blind,” he said. “We know who is kind of in there with us. We still don’t control our own fate and we’ve got to hope for these other guys to lose.”
With a runner on second and nobody out in the first, the Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo seemed to catch the Phillies off guard when he dropped a bunt down the third-base line, which he legged out for a single. Carroll followed with a run-scoring ground ball.
The Diamondbacks did more of the same in the second. Tim Tawa started the inning by beating out an infield single on a grounder to third. After a Jordan Lawlar walk, Jorge Barrosa put down an apparent sacrifice but beat the throw for a single, loading the bases.
Ketel Marte followed with a two-run single and, two batters later, Carroll blasted his 31st homer of the year, a three-run shot to right field to make it a 6-0 game.
“I think when you force teams to play fast — not just them (the Phillies) — they’re prone to making some mistakes,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “And I think we took advantage of that early on. Then with the right guys in the right spot, we had the slug that broke the game open.”
Carroll’s steal in the sixth gave him 30 on the season, 17 of which have come since Aug. 1. (He has said he has run more freely since moving behind Marte in the order.) He said reaching 30/30 was a personal goal entering the year, and he called it an “honor” to become the first player in club history to do so.
Said Carroll: “Gracie (former Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace) said it on the broadcast and I thought it was well said: There have been some really good players that have come before me. I think just to be the first to do it is great.”
Add in Carroll’s 17 triples and he is in even more exclusive company. He joined Willie Mays and Jimmy Rollins as the only players with 30 homers, 30 steals and 15 triples in a season.
The game included a tit-for-tat exchange between the two teams. After Marte was hit on the leg by a Tim Mayza pitch in the sixth — and then stared at Mayza before going to first — Rodriguez appeared to try to retaliate against the Phillies’ Weston Wilson an inning later. Rodriguez’s pitch went behind Wilson, going to the backstop, and warnings were issued for both teams.
“I thought there was a chance they could have (been throwing at Marte),” Lovullo said. “It didn’t look great. That’s one of the best players in the National League, and I’ve got to protect him.”
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks to umpire Cory Blaser after Ketel Marte got hit with a pitch in the sixth inning, Sept. 21, in Phoenix.
Rodriguez said his pitch to Wilson was nothing more than a cutter that got away from him.
“I just threw it way too inside and I missed the spot,” he said. “I just missed the spot and it went behind him. I don’t try to hit nobody. You guys never see me do that before.”
That the Diamondbacks remain in the playoff hunt remains an improbable reality for a team that has been battered by injuries throughout the season and dealt five veterans off the roster at the trade deadline. They have played well, going 28-19 since Aug. 1, and have benefited from the Mets’ collapse. In that same span, the Mets have gone 18-29.
The Diamondbacks still have a tough road ahead, with three-game series remaining against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home and San Diego Padres on the road. The Mets will play their final six on the road against the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins. The Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates before finishing on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Diamondbacks, Mets and Reds all had Monday off.
The Diamondbacks would own a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Mets but not the Reds, and if all three teams finish tied, the Reds would advance because they won the season series against both teams.
“It’s not how you start a season, it’s how you finish,” Lovullo said. “That’s what I’ll focus on right now. We’re in a position to continue to make statements.”
Coming up
– Monday, Sept. 22: Off
– Tuesday, Sept. 23: at Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (13-8, 5.02) vs. Dodgers RHP Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 3.29)
– Wednesday, Sept. 24: at Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.34) vs. Dodgers LHP Blake Snell (5-4, 2.44)
– Thursday, Sept. 25: at Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (13-14, 4.70) vs. Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8, 2.58)
