Walked off: Corbin Carroll late heroics, Ryne Nelson gem not enough in opener at Rays

The Arizona Diamondbacks left Tropicana Field with a bitter taste in their mouth on Friday night, as a solid outing from Ryne Nelson escaped the club in a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Corbin Carroll brought Arizona back into contention with a massive two-run blast in the ninth but a walk, single and throwing error spelled out a Tampa Bay walk-off to snap the D-back’s six-game winning streak.

Justin Martinez was charged with extending the Diamondback’s life into the 10th frame, but the young flamethrower saw that task upended when the Ray’s second baseman Brandon Lowe rattled a ball up the middle and center fielder Jake McCarthy failed to play it cleanly.

The D-backs (69-54) still matched the Padres (69-54) step for step, remaining locked in a tie for the top NL Wild Card spot after both teams fell Friday. With the closest challenger Atlanta Braves also losing, Arizona and San Diego gained half a game to be +4.5 ahead in the race.

A 7-6 Los Angeles Dodgers victory over the St. Louis Cardinals created a 3.0 game separation in the congested NL West standings.

Nelson makes another rotation statement

Ryne Nelson picked up right where he left off in his previous start against the Phillies, punching out six Tampa Bay batters in 6.1 innings with Arizona holding a 2-1 cushion. He reached the century mark after striking out second baseman Brandon Lowe in the fourth. The right-hander’s lone blemish was a solo home run off the bat of right fielder Dylan Carlson in the fifth.

Nelson was on target with his pitches all night, 70 of 94 finding the strike zone. He did not reward a single free pass to the Rays, marking the seventh time this season Nelson has not issued a walk.

The Diamondbacks had emerged victorious in Nelson’s last seven starts.

Ryne was ready. 👏 pic.twitter.com/X6RQnAxg1i

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 17, 2024

Carroll’s power continues to progress

After their slim lead evaporated in the eighth, Carroll launched a two-run shot to right field with the D-backs down to their last strike, ushering Eugenio Suarez home after a lead-off single in the ninth.

Carroll saw his 12th ball leave the park this season, the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year continuing a positive trend toward last year’s power numbers. Seven of his 12 homers have come post-All-Star break in addition to five triples.

From a dismal .186 batting clip in late April, Carroll has resurrected his average to a more respectable .220. His OPS has made a meteoric rise from .509 in April to .696 through Aug. 17, with .933 in August alone.

CORBIN CLUTCH. 😤 pic.twitter.com/7V7qFJk8rw

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 17, 2024

Rare offensive woes

Hits were unusually difficult to come by for the top-scoring club in the MLB, as it took a pinch-hit single from Randal Grichuk in the eighth to reach six for the ball game. The first and only extra-base hit for Arizona was Carroll’s life-line home run in the ninth.

After Carroll got aboard via a throwing error to lead off the game, the hot-handed McCarthy slapped a ball to left field and advanced the speedy Carroll to third. Following single from designated hitter Joc Pederson delivered Arizona’s first run with no outs recorded by the Ray’s starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot.

An opening hit for McCarthy meant 31 knocks in his last 67 at-bats, according to Arizona Diamondbacks communications. McCarthy entered Friday’s contest batting a National League-best .419 since July 22.

Despite Josh Bell hitting into a double play, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. paid off McCarthy’s occupation of third with a single placed in left field.

Blaze Alexander, in his second game since being called up from Reno on Wednesday, continued to struggle at the plate (0-for-2) and once again covered second base for the day-to-day Ketel Marte.

A three-hit first inning looked familiar for a ball club that has racked up the second-most runs in the first inning this season (0.72 runs per game). The quiet that followed was rare for Arizona.

Tale of two bullpens

A.J. Puk got the bullpen effort rolling for the D-backs, only requiring 12 pitches to collect three outs. Since being acquired by Arizona at the trade deadline, the 6-foot-7 southpaw has allowed one run and five hits in 8.2 innings and lowered his season ERA from 4.30 to 3.83 in 11 appearances on the mound.

Ryan Thompson was bombarded in the eighth, seeing two Rays get on the pond with two outs to his credit. A bloop single by Josh Lowe gave the Rays their first lead of the night at 3-2. Then a  nightmarish sequence of failed pickoff by catcher Adrian Del Castillo, Junior Caminero walk and Carlson centerfield-single created a sudden two-run hole for Arizona to climb out of.

The unique sidearm delivery of Thompson had only surrendered three earned runs once this season, in a 9-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics on June 28.

Martinez’s prospect of protecting a 4-4 tie was intact with a opening punch out of Jose Caballero, but a proceeding walk of Jonny DeLuca (the eventual game-winning run) spoiled an otherwise clean start. Prior to Friday’s loss, the second-year Martinez had only allowed one or more runs in eight of 46 appearances.

Injury avoided and injury updated

Manager Torey Lovullo said the 2024 All-Star and MVP hopeful Marte will “most likely” return to Arizona’s lineup on Saturday.

Suarez was nailed with a pitch in the second frame but toughed it out, putting his left hand to the test with two defensive putouts in the same inning. Though the injury scare did not affect his effectiveness at third base, Suarez cooled off offensively with a 1-for-4 performance at the plate.

Look ahead to Saturday

Arizona’s Zac Gallen and Tampa Bays’ Jeffrey Springs are pitching probables for Game 2 of the Diamondbacks-Rays series. Saturday’s first pitch from Tampa Bay is set for 1:10 p.m.

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