Just when the Arizona Diamondbacks began to feel the worst was inevitably on the way after a heavy helping of bad news about their pitching staff, a ray of hope appeared, even though the roof at Chase Field was shut on Friday night, June 19.
It came thanks to the heroics of Corbin Carroll, whose franchise-record-tying 52nd career triple in the eighth inning scored three runs to help the Diamondbacks break open a close game and earn a 9-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins to begin a three-game series.
“What can you say about Corbin that hasn’t already been said or something that we’ve all thought about?” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s an amazing athlete. He’s a great human being. He happens to be a really good baseball player, and I’ve got a front-row seat to it every single night, and I don’t take that for granted.”
Carroll’s 52 triples tied Stephen Drew for the most in Diamondbacks history, and it couldn’t have come at a more clutch time as Arizona had almost squandered a 6-3 lead.
That the Diamondbacks found themselves ahead by three runs was somewhat surprising considering starting pitcher Michael Soroka had to exit the game before throwing a pitch to begin the second inning because of what the team would later describe as left glute discomfort.
His departure forced Lovullo to rely heavily on his bullpen the rest of the way, and Kevin Ginkel, the sixth of seven relievers used on the night, had allowed back-to-back solo home runs to Josh Bell and Royce Lewis to begin the top of the eighth.
That cut Arizona’s lead to 6-5 and things looked bleak. It already was especially gloomy following Soroka’s injury and news earlier in the day that starting pitcher Ryne Nelson was landing on the injured list with a strained flexor tendon and a slight ulnar collateral ligament sprain — and that left-handed reliever A.J. Puk had suffered a capsule strain in his arm while rehabbing from elbow surgery last June.
Lovullo called the string of injuries “brutal” and Minnesota’s two eighth-inning blasts didn’t help.
“Yeah, Ginkel got clipped for a couple solo home runs and everything got very tense in the dugout,” Lovullo said. “But we went out there, built an inning, and the right guy came up in the right spot there in Corbin.”
The stage was set for Carroll thanks to a leadoff bunt single from Jordan Lawlar, who initially was called out but ruled safe after a successful Diamondbacks’ challenge. Lawlar, however, sustained a strained right hamstring running to first and was removed from the game for pinch runner Tommy Troy.
He and Soroka were scheduled for imaging tests on Saturday, June 20.
Pinch hitter Pavin Smith followed with an infield single up the middle, and with one out, Geraldo Perdomo drew a walk, bringing Carroll to the plate with the bases loaded.
Carroll’s triple, the ninth of the season, gave the Diamondbacks new life.
“Yeah, it felt good, especially there in that situation to give us some breathing room after they responded late,” Carroll said. “I’m happy to do it.”
There weren’t many smiles to be seen in the Arizona dugout up until that point, considering all the bad news on the injury front.
“But the smiles came back with one swing of the bat,” Lovullo said.
Lawlar’s bunt single was critical to the rally, even though he said afterward he knew immediately that something wasn’t right with his hamstring.
“I knew it was a close game, I knew I was leading off and I wanted to make a difference,” Lawlar said. “I knew if I could get on base, we had one guy in the 9 hole, and Pavin was going to hit and then could flip the lineup over and let those guys do what they do.
“And Corbin did what he does.”
As for Soroka, he tried throwing one warm-up pitch before the start of the second inning but “felt the grabbing in the left glute area.”
He was going to try to throw another warm-up pitch but said he didn’t feel like he would be able to “lock and rotate over it,” so he handed the baseball to Lovullo.
“We’ve got a bunch of games in a row and I knew (Lovullo) was going to have to run a bunch of guys out there, but they did an incredible job for the team,” Soroka said.
Lovullo was forced to go to his bullpen, where he used five relievers to get through the first seven frames.
The relievers held their own for the most part, but it was the Diamondbacks’ offense that truly perked up, scoring four runs in the fifth after trailing 3-1, and getting a solo home run from Ketel Marte in the sixth to take a 6-3 lead.
But things got interesting in the eighth inning once Ginkel allowed those consecutive solo homers.
Jonathan Loaisiga pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the win for the Diamondbacks.
Soroka, who is 8-3 with a 3.07 ERA, faced four batters and allowed an infield hit to Kody Clemens and a Byron Buxton single in his one inning of work. Buxton was cut down trying to stretch his rocket off the wall into a double.
Ryne Nelson lands on injured list
Right-hander Ryne Nelson has a flexor tendon strain and a slight ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right arm and was placed on the 15-day injured list, manager Torey Lovullo confirmed, a significant blow for a Diamondbacks rotation that has counted on him for his ability to eat up innings.
The Diamondbacks are hoping Nelson will be back at some point this season. He will try to rehab on a “no-throw” basis for four to six weeks, Lovullo said, after which the pitcher will have another imaging test. If all looks well from that point, Nelson will then begin a four-week ramp-up process.
Nelson suffered the injury in his most recent start against the Angels, but pitched through it to finish seven innings.
“I hurt for the athlete,” Lovullo said of Nelson. “I know he’s taking it in stride and doing the best he can to stay positive. I think the way it happened should show what a good teammate and what a warrior-type mentality he has. He felt something during the game, yet completed the outing and didn’t say anything until after the outing.
“He did the right thing in speaking up. When he gets back here, we’ll need him and I’ll be anxious to see him go out there and pitch and compete again.”
More than likely, right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, who is in the process of getting stretched out again as a starter in Triple-A Reno, will move into Nelson’s vacated spot in the rotation. Nelson had been scheduled to pitch next on Sunday, June 21, in the series finale against the Minnesota Twins.
In 15 starts this season, Nelson has just a 4.97 ERA but has logged 83 1/3 innings. He has worked seven innings or more in five of his past seven outings.
Lovullo said the team could instead opt to start righty Merrill Kelly, who last pitched on Tuesday, June 16, but that a decision has yet to be reached.
“Brandon Pfaadt is going to somehow, some way fall into this equation for sure,” Lovullo said. “And he deserves it. But we want to make sure that when and if he gets back here that he’s built out to a certain number of pitches.”
For now, right-hander Yilber Diaz was promoted to take Nelson’s spot on the roster. He gives them an extra arm in the bullpen until June 21.
—Nick Piecoro and Bob McManaman
Puk suffers capsule sprain
The Diamondbacks received more bad news on Friday, June 19, when it was learned left-handed reliever A.J. Puk, already on the injured list following elbow surgery last June, is now dealing with a capsule sprain in his arm that could push his rehab back an additional four weeks, Lovullo said.
Puk won’t throw during that time and then will have another imaging test to determine his status.
“That’s also another big loss,” Lovullo said, “but A.J. was doing all that he could to get back here and join us. He just went out there and, in the middle of competition, felt something under his arm and mentioned it, and I’m glad that he did.
“We’ll see what happens in the next couple weeks.”
–-Bob McManaman
Coming up
Saturday, June 20: At Chase Field, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-5, 5.35) vs. Twins RHP Taj Bradley (5-3, 4.14).
Sunday, June 21: At Chase Field, 12:15 p.m., Diamondbacks TBD vs. Twins RHP Mike Paredes (0-0, 4.20).
Monday, June 22: At St. Louis, 4:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (5-6, 5.81) vs. Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (8-4, 3.76).
Tuesday, June 23: At St. Louis, 4:45 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (6-2, 2.45) vs. Cardinals RHP Kyle Leahy (5-4, 4.63).
(This story has been updated to add information.)
