Corbin Carroll has sore back; Diamondbacks’ series loss to Phillies narrows WC race

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks had an opportunity to drag the Philadelphia Phillies back into the race for the third National League Wild Card spot this week, but the matchup has gone the other way.

Philadelphia rallied late to separate from the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, 7-1, winning a series at Chase Field for the first time since 2023 (regular season, of course).

Eduardo Rodriguez bent and did not break with three runs in five innings, but Arizona’s offense plated one run for the second straight game. Its top five hitters finished 1-for-19.

More concerningly, manager Torey Lovullo said All-Star Corbin Carroll is experiencing lower back discomfort, but the plan is for him to start on Wednesday, as he wants to push through it.

Diamondbacks’ race to run

The NL Wild Card race looks simple at this point for the Diamondbacks now that September is here. Barring a collapse, there appears to be one spot for grabs.

Philadelphia has won nine straight games in the middle of August and are on a new six-game winning streak. It passed the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday for the top NL Wild Card spot, graduating from the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres tier.

The Phillies are more of a threat to win the NL East than a risk to fall out, and FanGraphs gives them a 99% chance to make the playoffs at 6.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks.

Meanwhile, the Padres lost on Tuesday, so the D-backs (73-67) remain a half-game behind their division rivals for the third NL Wild Card.

San Diego and Arizona are the main characters in the fight for the final playoff spot in the NL, a point of intrigue with the other five slots (in some order to be determined) looking pretty solid.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will win the NL West. The Milwaukee Brewers have a sizable lead over the Cubs in the Central. The Atlanta Braves only have to worry about the Phillies in the East. The Cubs are 5.5 games ahead of Arizona.

The Padres and Diamondbacks are not necessarily in a two-horse race, however. The hard-to-kill Miami Marlins cannot be counted out. They are 2.5 games behind Arizona with a 3-0 lead in their season series.

“We’ve got to flush this game, it stunk,” Lovullo said. “We know we’re in a race and we got to start to win some baseball games. We’re not gonna win unless we play our game our way, focus on our dugout, our strengths and what we’re good at. When we do that, we’re gonna be fine.”

“We need to win every game we can right now,” Rodriguez said.

Corbin Carroll’s back soreness and the Diamondbacks’ hitting struggles

If it feels like the Diamondbacks’ offense either busts out seven runs or does very little, that’s because it has lately.

In 11 of the last 25 games, the D-backs have scored two runs or fewer. They have not scored fewer than five runs or more than two since Aug. 18.

Falling behind early has become a norm.

The Diamondbacks have scored one run in the first two innings over their last 11 games, their 10-6 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday being the exception. They have a bottom-five offense in the first inning this season (66 runs).

This recent stretch of early offensive ineptitude has coincided with the ongoing struggles of Carroll.

Carroll struck out three times on Tuesday and finished 0-for-4. He has three hits over his last nine games.

Lovullo said Carroll’s sore back has not been brought up as an excuse for the slump.

“He has not complained about it one time,” Lovullo said. “I think he’s just, he’s got to swing at good pitches. That’s what it comes down to. If he’s swinging at the pitches he’s looking for, he’s gonna back the baseball. And that’s the same for anybody. You’re only good as a pitches you swing at.”

It looked like Carroll had found his way out of the woods:

• From June 23 to Aug. 9, Carroll hit .161 with a .578 OPS
• From Aug. 10-23, he hit .381 with a 1.276 OPS, winning a National League Player of the Week award

But it did not stick.

Carroll is far from the only player in the lineup going through a lull, but the Diamondbacks’ success is largely tied to Carroll’s. They are 22-10 this season when he delivers multiple hits. They are 21-31 when he goes hitless.

Since his dynamite rookie season in 2023, Carroll has been a driver of the offense alongside Ketel Marte — who played his second game back from the injured list on Tuesday and went 1-for-3.

If the Diamondbacks miss the postseason, their star players’ inconsistencies will be one of the top reasons to look at. If the D-backs clinch, it will probably be because Carroll and Marte get rolling.

Hitting with runners in scoring position also continues to be problematic, as the D-backs do not have a hit with RISP two games into this series (0-for-13).

“Don’t come out of your approach, don’t take an off-balance swing, stay behind the ball, use the opposite gap, don’t be afraid to hit with one strike on you if it’s not the pitch you’re looking for,” Lovullo said. “I know all that’s happening. It’s just, we’re getting beat and we got to be better.”

 

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Tuesday attendance

27,395

Diamondbacks using an opener

Instead of starting rookie Jose Cabrera against a lineup with Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez near the top, the Diamondbacks are going to open with reliever Taylor Clarke.

Clarke threw a 1-2-3 inning on Tuesday, and lefties are batting .220 off him this season. Cabrera is lined up to give Arizona bulk innings.

The Phillies will start rookie righty Andrew Painter.

First pitch is at 12:40 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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