Diamondbacks handle business against White Sox with parade of runs early

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks swiftly handled the Chicago White Sox, jumping out to a 10-1 lead in four innings to earn a 12-5 win on Father’s Day Sunday.

Arizona claimed the series, finishing the homestand 4-2. They have tied or won their last five series.

The Diamondbacks had an all-encompassing performance on offense, creating lots of traffic with nine hits and eight walks partnered with some timely slug.

It started early, as none of the first five Diamondbacks hit into an out. Joc Pederson doubled in a pair of runs but was thrown out at third base in the first inning. Christian Walker followed with a solo shot off White Sox starter Drew Thorpe, who had a rude second MLB start.

Walker put together a day with three hits and three RBIs, coming up a triple shy of the cycle.

Make this man an All-Star!!

👉 https://t.co/4SLoL8HfgQ 👈 pic.twitter.com/SV3e9hIK6w

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 16, 2024

Walker broke the game open on a two-run double to right field with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to take a 7-1 lead.

Arizona put up six runs in the fourth inning, two on wild pitches by Chad Kuhl and two others on sacrifice flies. Jake McCarthy had two sac-flies, a walk and an RBI triple on Sunday for three RBIs of his own.

Every starter in the lineup reached base.

“I think we had a great game plan,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “You could tell from the get-go the guys were extremely engaged, extremely focused and determined to win the series. I thought there were some really nice approaches early on. … Nine hits, eight walks a ton of traffic, when we do that, we’re going to score some runs.”

The Diamondbacks (35-37) continue to close ground on .500. The club is 10-5 in June, in large part due to the offensive awakening of the past two weeks. Arizona is the highest scoring team in the National League this month with 91 runs.

Corbin Carroll to get MRI

Corbin Carroll left the game with left side tightness after a throw from the outfield in the seventh inning. He will receive an MRI on Monday but was optimistic postgame he avoided serious injury.

“Just kind of a weird position, got my left leg out in front of me when I went to throw and just a general pull feeling, not super painful, in my left side,” Carroll described. “I’m feeling pretty good right now and hope to be out there for the Washington (next) series.”

Corbin Carroll said postgame he was feeling pretty good after running into some discomfort on the left side of his ribcage after a throw. The D-backs outfielder is optimistic about his chances to play the next series in Washington. pic.twitter.com/HAaiyo58Yl

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 17, 2024

Jordan Montgomery handles White Sox

D-backs starter Jordan Montgomery continued to put those two six-run outings behind him.

He struck out seven White Sox batters in five innings with no earned runs (one unearned run). The changeup was particularly elusive, drawing 10 whiffs on 12 swings.

“I had a good changeup, curveball, threw a lot of good four-seamers in there that opened that up,” Montgomery said. “Just tried to stay on the attack.”

Lovullo said Montgomery was aggressive and his pitches had great finish.

When asked whether he felt Sunday was a step in the right direction, Montgomery simply said he’s just trying to stack up wins.

Lovullo took Montgomery out at 84 pitches to get the bullpen some work with Monday’s off day.

It has also been a while since the Diamondbacks played a close ballgame. They beat the Padres 4-3 on June 6, and the following nine games have been decided by five or more runs. Thus, not a lot of high leverage spots for the likes of Paul Sewald, Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez.

Martinez’s 15-game scoreless streak ended on Sunday, as Chicago’s Tommy Pham flared an RBI single off him to cut the deficit to 12-2.

Diamondbacks hit the road

Arizona travels east for three games against the Washington Nationals, starting Tuesday. The Nationals are 0.5 games up on Arizona in the wild card race.

The D-backs will then return to Philadelphia for the first time since winning the NL pennant against the Phillies for three games over the weekend.

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