Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll lifts 1st career leadoff home run in win over Rockies

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll delivered his first home run of the 2024 season, leading off Tuesday’s 3-2 win against the Colorado Rockies with an opposite-field shot at Coors Field.

It was Carroll’s first career leadoff home run, a sinker on the outside edge of the plate from right-hander Cal Quantrill hit 103.7 mph off the bat. Carroll had been primarily hitting second behind Ketel Marte his year, but Marte was out of the starting lineup (rest) for the first time on Tuesday.

Oppo Taco Tuesday for Corbin to lead us off tonight! pic.twitter.com/dRCRVmUTev

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 10, 2024

Marte hit a pair of leadoff home runs at the Atlanta Braves on Friday and Saturday, so the D-backs have led off three of their last five games with a home run.

Carroll had one extra base hit in 10 games before the homer, a double bounced down the right-field line last week against the Yankees.

His roundtripper started the eighth multi-run first inning of the season for the Diamondbacks, most in Major League Baseball with no other team exceeding three.

Gabriel Moreno doubled and scored on a Christian Walker base hit up the middle to take a 2-0 lead. Walker has a 23-game on-base streak against the Rockies and a 14-game hitting streak. Moreno finished with four hits and threw out two runners attempting to steal bases.

“It was just a matter of time for those guys,” Walker said of Carroll and Moreno getting big hits. “The beginning of the season is a tricky thing — you never start as good as you want, or you surprise yourself. With guys like Corbin and Gabi, it’s not a matter of if, it’s when.”

Arizona continued to pile on early, as outfielder Randal Grichuk blasted his first home run with the franchise to left field in the second inning against his former club.

From there, starter Merrill Kelly kept the lead intact through six innings with two earned runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Merrill Kelly’s 2Ks in the 2nd.

And Swords. ⚔️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/kx4pKi90gT

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 10, 2024

Kelly struck out Rockies slugger Nolan Jones looking with a cutter at the knees to strand a pair of runners in the sixth inning and turn it over to the bullpen.

The right-hander now has three quality starts to open the year with a 2.29 ERA.

“I would have liked to have limited the walks,” Kelly said. “A lot of three-ball counts that I don’t really enjoy. But all that really matters is the score.”

Ryan Thompson and Kyle Nelson bridged the gap to Kevin Ginkel, who picked up his first save of the season.

Torey Lovullo, the longest-tenured manager in franchise history, picked up his 500th career victory.

“The players are the ones that win these games,” Lovullo said. “I’ve been so honored to be their manager for all these years, and 500 victories are amazing. This accomplishment is wonderful, but it’s not where we want to end up. It’s a we thing over a me thing.”

The series finale and rubber match is Wednesday at 12:10 p.m. with Tommy Henry starting for Arizona against Colorado’s Austin Gomber.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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