Diamondbacks do not mess around with Rockies to close 6-1 homestand

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks smacked seven extra-base hits, none of which left the yard, in an all-around dominant win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, 9-1. 

Ryne Nelson threw a career-high eight innings with one earned run, while the offense supplied a 7-0 lead in the opening three innings to bury the Rockies early. 

The score was 9-0 after six, as the D-backs coasted to earn a four-game series victory, 3-1. 

It was an emphatic performance, spearheaded by three hits from Ketel Marte and four from Corbin Carroll, who hit two triples. The tandem accounted for four runs scored and five RBIs. 

With the win, Arizona finished its homestand against the San Francisco Giants and Rockies 6-1 and improved to 8-2 over the first 10 games of its Rockies-Giants-Rockies-Giants stretch. 

“Marte had a great day, Carroll had a great day,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “And when those guys, those two catalysts are pushing this offense, that’s the potential we have. So, scoring nine runs and just kind of easing into the rest of the day behind Nelly was a really good recipe for the last day of a successful home series.” 

The Diamondbacks moved to 28-24, a half-game back of the National League Wild Card picture at Memorial Day. 

Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll lead dominant offense vs. Rockies 

Marte and Carroll were off and running immediately, starting the game with a double and a triple, respectively. Geraldo Perdomo hit a sacrifice fly to plate Carroll and take a 2-0 lead off Rockies left-hander Jose Quintana. 

One inning later, the Diamondbacks were ahead 3-0 when Marte hit a 115.8 mph rocket to left field for a two-run, ground-rule double. Tommy Troy scored on the play after he doubled in his first major league at-bat to set up Marte. 

Carroll singled to move Marte over, and Perdomo hit an RBI ground out. 

The duo teamed up again to score in the sixth, as Marte hit an RBI single, followed by Carroll’s second triple. Carroll leads the league with eight triples and is one away from tying Stephen Drew’s franchise record of 52. 

Carroll is riding a 12-game hitting streak, and with his third-career four-hit game, he improved his batting average to .301. Carroll is third in MLB with a .979 OPS, trailing Yordan Alvarez and Ben Rice. He leads the National League.  

Marte was batting .209 on May 15 with a .619 OPS. He is now up to hitting .262 with a .772 OPS, having collected multiple hits in seven of his last 10 games.  

Five Diamondbacks hitters drove in a run and six scored on Sunday. 

Troy finished his debut 2-for-4 with two doubles, while fellow rookie Ryan Waldschmidt went 2-for-4 with a single, RBI triple and stolen base. 

Quintana did not get out of the second inning, as he left the game with elbow discomfort, turning Sunday into a bullpen game for the Rockies. 

Ryne Nelson is having a month 

Nelson threw 24 pitches in the opening three innings, telegraphing a deep outing was coming. The Diamondbacks let him go after shortening Michael Soroka’s and Zac Gallen’s pitch counts over the previous two games. 

Nelson had thrown 7.2 innings before, but he had yet to complete eight in his MLB career. The only run he allowed came in the eighth inning on a Chad Stevens sacrifice fly. 

The right-hander took advantage of an aggressively-swinging lineup, much like Merrill Kelly when he threw a complete game against the Rockies at Coors Field. 

“Probably just a good matchup between me and them for early outs and quick outs,” Nelson said. 

“Honestly I felt better the deeper into the game I got. My (velocity) probably peaked in like the fifth sixth, but I still feel like I had some in the tank there at the end. The first couple innings kind of felt a little out of rhythm, but I made some pitches got some quick outs.” 

Nelson dropped his ERA to 4.65, a significant improvement on where he stood at the start of May. Nelson had a 7.71 ERA through his first five starts of the year, but in five outings this month, he has thrown 34.1 innings with nine earned runs. That is an ERA of 2.36. 

“We’ve got confidence in all our pitchers,” Carroll said. “Just to know that they’re feeling good and going out there and doing what they need to do. It just gives us a chance to win every night.” 

The effort gave the bullpen a rest day outside one inning of work from Taylor Clarke. 

Sunday attendance 

30,037 

Off to San Francisco 

The D-backs will play three games at Oracle Park, starting on Memorial Day Monday. 

Merrill Kelly will pitch the opener against the Giants, matched up against right-hander Landen Roupp. 

Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka will pitch the final two games of the series for Arizona before the D-backs get an off day on Thursday. 

First pitch on Monday is at 2:05 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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