Diamondbacks prevent go-ahead, inside-the-park HR in win over Tigers

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop could not hear anything over the crowd at Chase Field, but he turned with the ball to see Detroit Tigers runner Kerry Carpenter going all out for a go-ahead, inside-the-park home run on Sunday.

Kevin Newman’s relay throw from shallow center was on line, a one-hopper to catcher Tucker Barnhart who applied the tag in time to end the top of the seventh inning with a 4-4 score.

The D-backs (22-25) responded with two runs, pulling through a 6-4 victory to avoid a home sweep.

What a relay to send this game into the stretch tied at 4. pic.twitter.com/5J3gMhL5Gf

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 19, 2024

“(Ketel) Marte’s saying he’s screaming but just couldn’t hear so I turned my head, saw he was going and tried to put it on Tuck best I could,” Newman said. “Thankfully got there just in time.”

Carpenter came up with two outs as a pinch hitter against Ryan Thompson and pumped a deep fly ball off the tall wall in center.

Corbin Carroll went to the wall unsure whether it would be catchable, but both corner outfielders were there to back him up. Pavin Smith picked up the ball, bobbled it but delivered a clean throw to Newman to start the game-saving relay.

“The two outfielders converged on that and we talk about that a lot, just go help your off outfielder and both of them were there,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I love that play. The entire team is engaged. Everybody has responsibilities. Everybody’s rotating. You got to think fast.”

Detroit challenged, but the play was confirmed and Barnhart was deemed in legal position.

“It’s second nature now in terms of where I set up. I truly believe it’s all about the setup and where you position your body at the start,” Barnhart said. “Had it gone a different direction, probably would have been an early shower for me because I don’t know what else I could do.”

D-backs shortstop Kevin Newman on the critical relay home in Sunday’s win: pic.twitter.com/ssHLV2y8Xt

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 20, 2024

Arizona took the lead on another bang-bang play at home in the bottom half.

Smith came up with runners on second and third, one out. He chopped a ball to shortstop Javier Baez, who threw a one-hopper home that beat runner Randal Grichuk. The ball bounced off catcher Jake Rogers’ glove as he attempted the tag, and the D-backs had a lead.

Lovullo pinch hit Grichuk for Joc Pederson against southpaw Tyler Holton, despite Pederson’s 3-for-3 day. Grichuk singled, and Christian Walker followed with a knock to start a rally.

“I’ve had this discussion inside of a dugout for for 25 years,” Lovullo said. “You try not to give those momentum pushes to a team that’s coming back in the dugout, where they take a big sigh of relief. We knew that Joey Cora was an extremely aggressive third base coach, we talked about it pregame. Our infielders were ready to go.”

Thompson was in trouble in the eighth with runners on second and third and one out but struck out back-to-back hitters with slider to escape. This was not Thompson’s cleanest outing, but he recorded six critical outs to bridge starter Jordan Montgomery to closer Paul Sewald.

Sewald recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

Diamondbacks’ gritty win

Execution on the bases helped the Diamondbacks gain the lead in the first place, as Carroll tripled in the first inning. He slowed up around second base but saw Baez with his back turned as he received the throw from left field. Carroll sped right back up and slid into third, scoring two batters later on a Pederson double.

Caught ’em sleeping. 😴 pic.twitter.com/Px5cHq4AMN

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 19, 2024

Pederson drove in two runs, as did Walker on a pair of sacrifice fly outs off Detroit starter Matt Manning.

Montgomery gave the D-backs six innings with four earned runs, the final coming on Carpenter’s near-homer.

Lovullo said his team did a lot of the little things right Sunday to avoid a losing streak before the D-backs face the Dodgers. In four of Arizona’s last seven series, it dropped the first two games but took the third. Detroit outscored Arizona 21-3 over the first two contests.

“I feel very strongly that this team will find its way and hit its stride,” Lovullo said. “We just got to shorten those gaps when we lose five or six in a row. We close out a series …We’re not playing our best baseball and we found a way.”

Torey Lovullo described a gritty team win for the Diamondbacks on getaway day.

“This team had a good day today. A lot of the little things showed up.” pic.twitter.com/RzOYpbQBEe

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 20, 2024

Did Ketel Marte extend his hitting streak?

Marte singled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. His career high was previously 16, and he has the longest active streak.

Diamondbacks’ next game

The D-backs head west to Dodger Stadium for three games against their division rivals.

Reliever Joe Mantiply will be the opener on Monday, while the Dodgers will start Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

First pitch Monday is at 7:10 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.  

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