Diamondbacks’ dominance vs. Phillies is another sign of how dangerous they’ve become

PHOENIX — After a walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was fired up and said, “We got to start setting a tone and making statements.”

Over the next two games — despite MVP candidate Ketel Marte playing less than four innings with an ankle contusion, Zac Gallen exiting early on Saturday with cramping and Merrill Kelly throwing on a pitch count on Sunday — the D-backs (66-53) completely discarded the Phillies (69-49).

Arizona won 11-1 on Saturday with 15 hits. On Sunday, the Diamondbacks rallied for 18 hits in a 12-5 victory. They captured three of the four games and won the season series, 4-3 — same count as their NLCS win over the Phillies.

The Diamondbacks fell behind 2-0 in the first inning on Sunday with All-Star starter Cristopher Sanchez on the other side, who threw seven shutout innings against them in June.

The D-backs tagged Sanchez with five runs over the first three innings, taking a lead on a two-run single from catcher Adrian Del Castillo.

Del Castillo — who is up with Gabriel Moreno on the injured list — finished with three hits, upping his total during the first three games of his career to seven. No Diamondbacks player had ever recorded more than six.

Jake McCarthy collected three more hits, including a three-run triple. He produced eight RBIs over the last two games. Kevin Newman, filling in for Marte, also put up a three-hit night.

Arizona put multiple runners on base in each of the first seven innings and finished 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position, a constant threat for crooked numbers.

“It’s awesome. I just think it’s fun when it seems like it’s someone different every night,” McCarthy said on Saturday. “It’s really encouraging when we have nights, maybe we’re not feeling it, or it’s late innings and we’re down a couple of runs, ‘Okay, we’re still in this, we can pull something out here.”

Jake McCarthy clears the bases with a triple!

He has 7 RBI in his last two games 🐍 pic.twitter.com/KnR4GMoenH

— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2024

With the run support, Kelly looked like “vintage Merrill,” as Lovullo put it. He pushed through five innings with two earned runs in his first start since April 15. His return completes Arizona’s healthy rotation for the first time this season just in time for the stretch run (43 more games).

The Diamondbacks started their week with a three-game sweep at the Cleveland Guardians, who at the time owned baseball’s best record and home record.

The Phillies overtook the Guardians for the top win percentage in MLB and won the series opener at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks fought back for a chance to win their eighth consecutive series, and manager Torey Lovullo was eager to see how his club would respond on Sunday.

“We’ve had discussions all the way back as far as spring training, what are we going to look like we have a chance to win a series on a Sunday …. when you have a chance to go win three games, three of the four? I think this team did a great job answering that question,” Lovullo said postgame.

“That’s what stands out more than anything. … It was an unbelievable approach against an All-Star pitcher. This wasn’t an easy day if you’re calculating what’s it going to look like against him? We had a really good game plan.”

The Diamondbacks’ streak of series without a loss dates back to June 27. That is 12 series in a row, and this has not been a cupcake schedule.

The Dodgers, Padres, Braves, Royals, Guardians and Phillies are all in playoff position. Against teams above .500 on July 1, Arizona was 16-25. Since then, the D-backs are 18-9, combining the additional thump in offensive production to an elite defense and improving pitching staff.

“We show up every single day ready to compete the same way,” Newman said. “I think getting those wins kind of shows us we are who we thought we were. We can play with anybody. I think more internally, it’s definitely a confidence boost, and something we want to build on. We’ll let other people kind of talk about other teams.”

A Diamondbacks win and a Padres loss on Sunday put the two NL West rivals neck and neck as the top wild card team and 3.5 games back of the Dodgers in the division race.

Merrill Kelly eager to join the fight

Kelly spent the last three-plus months spectating as the D-backs struggled to reach .500 during the first half of the season and broke to earn baseball’s best record at 25-10 since July 1.

“It’s way more fun than watching it from the couch,” Kelly said. “Seeing these guys doing what they’re doing right now, it’s a lot of fun to watch. I hope I can come in and keep the momentum going.

“Obviously, coming in, whoever you are and whatever team, when you come into a team that’s been rolling, you just don’t want to be the squeaky wheel.”

Kelly felt he was a bit rushed early in Sunday’s game when he gave up two runs in the first inning but settled in. He got through five innings with 85 pitches, giving up no runs and one hit after the opening frame.

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly discussed his return after Sunday’s win vs. the Phillies. pic.twitter.com/9zPnpX3AEl

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) August 11, 2024

Corbin Carroll is crushing the ball again

The D-backs did not start Corbin Carroll with a left-hander on the mound, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game after three innings with hamstring tightness. Gurriel is day-to-day and will not go on the IL, Lovullo said.

Carroll crushed an opposite-field home run in the seventh inning for the second straight game, hitting dingers in consecutive games for the first time this season.

On Saturday, Carroll drove a ball above the strike zone off righty Yunior Marte. On Sunday, it was a 98.6 mph fastball from left-hander Jose Alvarado that Carroll punched to left field.

CORBIN BARRELS. pic.twitter.com/rtJ6G55iYr

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 11, 2024

Carroll hit two homers through 87 games. He’s added nine over his last 28 games.

“That was a really impressive swing. That left-handed pitcher he hit it off of is very tough,” Lovullo said. “The way he stayed behind the ball and and squared it up and hit it the other way tells me a really good story about everything’s in the right place. You don’t hit a ball like that by accident. … He stayed on it. You talk about keeping your head down and driving it. That was a perfect example.”

His hard hit rate, fly ball rate and exit velocity are ticking up. Through the end of June, Carroll’s average exit velocity was 87.6 mph, one of the lowest marks in the league. Since July 1, it is up to 90.4 mph, right around where it was last season (90.0 mph).

The way this team has trended offensively, getting a version of Carroll producing at this rate is a significant development for this postseason chase.

Who do the Diamondbacks play next

Arizona’s home stand continues with three games against the Colorado Rockies starting on Monday at 6:40 p.m.

Brandon Pfaadt gets the ball against Colorado’s Cal Quantrill in the opener.

Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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