Diamondbacks wrap up ‘incomplete’ homestand with bounce-back win over Nationals

PHOENIX — Arizona starting pitcher Michael Soroka quieted the top-scoring Washington Nationals, as the Diamondbacks avoided getting swept at home with a 5-1 victory on Sunday to end their homestand.

Soroka threw seven innings with one earned run after the Nationals dropped 20 over their previous two games, and the Diamondbacks’ offense received just enough punch despite continued struggles with runners in scoring position (0-for-7).

Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno both hit home runs, and Arizona moved to 34-31 to avoid falling behind Washington (33-33) in the National League Wild Card standings.

The Diamondbacks’ previous two games started in the same way, with lead-off man James Wood reaching first base and the next hitter (Luis Garcia Jr. on Friday and Curtis Mead on Saturday) going yard.

Soroka walked Wood to lead off the game but broke the chain by drawing a double play ground ball from Garcia and striking out Mead. It was a welcome sign of what was to come.

Carroll responded with a solo home run, ending another dubious streak for the Diamondbacks: Arizona had gone 11 straight games without taking the lead first.

Soroka allowed a game-tying home run to CJ Abrams in the second, but from there, he only allowed two hits. Without his best command, he thought, Soroka was able to compete in the strike zone and work efficiently to get deep into another outing.

“Good in a couple ways, struggled to feel it out a little bit early and just resorted to throwing punches a little bit,” Soroka said. “Found it as the game went on. … They’ve had a good offense this year. They’ve been hitting mistakes really well, and we eventually just had to let it go a little bit. Once we found that, it was a lot easier to get back in and execute the game plan.”

His eight wins are tied for third in Major League Baseball, as the D-backs are 8-5 when he starts.

This was Soroka’s sixth start (out of 13) this season in which he threw at least six innings with two or fewer earned runs, and his ERA dropped to 3.28.

Chase Field has looked like a comfortable home ballpark for him, as his ERA in eight home starts is down to 2.09. The one-year deal Arizona threw his way this past offseason continues to look like a massive win for the franchise.

“He’s been really good,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I go back to a meeting with him in the offseason at Luci’s up in Scottsdale when we were recruiting him. He had a choice to make. He could have gone anywhere he wanted. He made the decision to join us, and we full-court pressed him. I didn’t know a lot about him, just the times that we faced him, but the people that spent time getting to know him said this would be a really good fit if we get him here.”

Diamondbacks end up-and-down homestand with a nice win

The Diamondbacks finished the homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Nationals 3-4, therefore following up an 11-2 stretch against the lowly San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies with a 3-7 record over the next 10 games.

Arizona’s start to the Nationals series was disappointing to say the least, especially in comparison to how tightly the Dodgers series was played outside of Shohei Ohtani’s start on Wednesday.

“Probably an incomplete grade,” Lovullo said of the homestand. “Nothing overly alarming and nothing overly excited to get about. I want to come home and win baseball games. We can do that. We just ran into a little bit of a buzzsaw. The Dodgers are a good team. Maybe let our guard down a little bit. We got punched in the face the past couple days. I don’t like when that happens. We’ve got to be ready no matter who we’re playing.”

Sunday’s game could have been more lopsided had the D-backs come up with just a couple of knocks with runners in scoring position, which was a problem all homestand.

Arizona entered Sunday 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position after they had been one of the most effective teams at capitalizing on their opportunities earlier this season. On May 7, the D-backs held a .297 batting average with runners in scoring position, which led the sport. They’ve hit .204 over the past two weeks entering Sunday’s game.

Ketel Marte hit two monster home runs against the Dodgers, although those were his only hits on the homestand (2-for-23). He was far from the only D-backs hitter who got cold at Chase Field, but he crushed everything thrown his way during a 13-game hitting streak that landed him an NL Player of the Week award, so the contrast has been more stark.

The starting pitching was also up-and-down after the rotation had been excellent previously, although Eduardo Rodriguez and Soroka bookended the seven games with gem starts.

Despite not playing their best baseball as a unit, the Diamondbacks ended the homestand in a virtual tie for the final NL Wild Card spot.

“Obviously, the last couple games, we kind of fell into a rut a little bit,” Soroka said. “This team’s just so talented. It’s bound to start coming to show a little bit more than I think it has. We’re in a decent place as far as standings go, and looking to make some headway here and have a good road trip.”

They will look to get on better footing on the road with a six-game trip to Miami and Cincinnati this upcoming week.

Sunday attendance

35,540

Diamondbacks-Marlins probables

The Diamondbacks get Monday off before starting a three-game series in Miami.

Probable starting pitchers:

Tuesday: RHP Zac Gallen (3-5, 5.32) vs. RHP Max Meyer (6-0, 2.81)

Wednesday: RHP Ryne Nelson 2-4, 4.60) vs. RHP Ryan Gusto (0-1, 10.80)

Thursday: RHP Merrill Kelly (5-4, 5.71) vs. RHP Tyler Phillips (0-1, 2.08)

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