Merrill Kelly grinds out bounce-back effort as Diamondbacks fall short vs. Cardinals

The Arizona Diamondbacks out hit the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, but fell short on the scoreboard 3-2 on a day where Merrill Kelly kept them in the game.

A 444-foot moonshot home run by Tommy Troy in the seventh — which he crushed off a 98-mph fastball from Ryne Stanek — got the D-backs within one run. A Geraldo Perdomo ground ball, however, squelched any further threat with Ketel Marte on second base following a single and steal.

The 24-year-old Troy had a moment to celebrate his third career long ball, which manager Torey Lovullo said postgame surprised him with its distance, but ended up being the final out in the ninth on a foul out.

The D-backs have dropped three straight after losing a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins and fell to .500 (39-39).

Arizona continued to struggle with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-8 with eight hits to St. Louis’s seven.

“We built innings, just couldn’t really continue to keep the hammer down and make something happen scoring some runs,” Lovullo told reporters postgame. “That’s the name of the game. We are two very similar teams, play similar style baseball. I mean, timely hitting (is what it comes down to).”

Marte and Corbin Carroll each had two hits, including a double by Carroll in the sixth where he then became the D-backs’ first run after back-to-back groundouts.

In a crucial midseason series between National League Wild Card challengers, the Cardinals (42-34) moved to four games clear of the D-backs and half a game in front of the Philadelphia Phillies (42-35). St. Louis is the top Wild Card team with the Chicago Cubs (40-37) sitting in the third and final spot.

Four teams now stand between the D-backs and the Cubs.

How did Merrill Kelly respond after clunker vs. Angels?

Kelly has logged more than one uncharacteristic start this season after re-signing with Arizona, but he didn’t let the latest last week against the Los Angeles Angels (six earned runs on 11 hits) carry over into Monday.

It didn’t look like a bounce-back start was loading in the first, with the first three St. Louis batters reaching on two singles and a walk. But a lineout to Geraldo Perdomo by star right fielder Jordan Walker and 4-6-3 double play hit into by Lars Nootbaar was a huge zero to put on the board.

Following a taxing 18-pitch first frame, Kelly settled in with a nine-pitch second and was able to limit the scoring damage to one run (Nathan Church) in the third after inducing another double play (Walker).

Trouble brewed in the fourth, however, as the Cardinals racked up four singles and two runs to build a 3-0 lead, with Church doing more damage on Kelly with a broken-bat single to score shortstop Masyn Winn. Kelly tossed 25 pitches in the inning.

The right-hander closed the book on six innings pitched, walking three and striking out two on 96 pitches. Monday’s start was Kelly’s seventh this season (out of 13) giving up at least three free passes.

Though not the cleanest outing, Kelly kept his team, as he has so often in his D-backs tenure, in it against a current National League Wild Card team.

His season ERA fell a bit to 5.71, but it is still on pace for the worst of his eight-year MLB career.

Arizona’s bullpen got back to being a strength for the club, as Taylor Clarke and Jonathan Loaisiga combined for two scoreless innings after relievers surrendered four runs to the Twins on Sunday.

Nolan Arenado’s return to St. Louis

Monday marked D-backs third baseman Nolan Arenado’s first trip back to Busch Stadium since signing with Arizona this offseason.

The former Cardinal (2021-25) was greeted with a deserved standing ovation when he was stepping up to the plate to lead off the second.

Arenado then ripped the second pitch by St. Louis starter Andre Pallante for a single to center field.

The 35 year old closed his return to the place he earned two Gold Gloves and three All-Star nods with a 1-for-4 effort, scoring Carroll from third with a groundout in the sixth.

Diamondbacks-Cardinals Tuesday probables

Southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (2.45 ERA) will take the ball for Arizona, having collected his 100th career win in his most recent start against the Angels. Right-hander Kyle Leahy (4.63 ERA) will start for St. Louis, the 29-year-old having surrendered at least three earned runs in each his last three starts.

Game 2 of Diamondbacks-Cardinals will begin at 4:45 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.

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