Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 1
PHOENIX, May 30 — The Arizona Diamondbacks socked three home runs en route to a 5–1 victory over the Colorado Rockies Tuesday night in front of 11,146 at Chase Field. Ketel Marte and Evan Longoria blasted the roundtrippers in the first inning, while Corbin Carroll added one in the sixth. In addition, Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen tossed six scoreless innings, allowing five hits while walking two and striking out seven, to hold the Rockies at bay.
Gallen “Locks Down” the Rockies
The Rockies had runners in scoring position in the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings. In the first, a leadoff walk by left fielder Jurickson Profar and one-out infield single by third baseman Ryan McMahon put runners on first and second for Elias Diaz. Gallen got the slugging catcher to ground into a side-retiring 5–4–3 double play. In the third, a leadoff double by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and two-out walk by McMahon put runners on first and second for Diaz again. Diaz hit a liner to shallow right-center, one that had trouble written all over it. But a great jump by Jake McCarthy in right field, followed by a sliding catch, retired Diaz and kept the Rockies off the scoreboard.
Gallen did not need such heroics in the fourth or fifth, pitching around a one-out double in the fourth and two-out double in the fifth. They came from second baseman Harold Castro and designated hitter Randal Grichuk, respectively. In each case, they were the only baserunners of the inning.
“That’s what he does best,” manager Torey Lovullo said about Gallen’s ability to strand the runners who reached scoring position. “And that’s what makes him so good. He gets real stubborn and slows the game down. He’s in total control of what’s going on per at-bat and starts to make pitches. That’s one of his great ingredients. He can lock it down even more, and the stuff spikes up a little bit. The velocity starts to climb a little bit, and he pitches at a different level. That’s what really good pitchers are able to do.”
Diamondbacks Slug Away in the Early Innings
The Diamondbacks, however, jumped on ace Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland early and never looked back. Second baseman Ketel Marte led off the bottom of the first with a foul-pole home run to left field. Three batters later, first baseman Christian Walker drew a one-out walk. He came around to score when designated hitter Evan Longoria launched a tall home run to the picnic area in left-center. A follow-up grounder to second by Corbin Carroll ended the inning with the score 3–0.
The Diamondbacks extended the lead to 4–0 in the bottom of the fourth. It came from center fielder Corbin Carroll, who scored what Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa used to call “a Rickey run” in reference to the great Rickey Henderson. Carroll drew a lead-off walk. After shortstop Nick Ahmed flied to center, Carroll stole second and third on consecutive pitches. Catcher Gabriel Moreno, who was batting when Carroll swiped the two bags, ultimately smacked a sacrifice fly to left, bringing Carroll home.
Lovullo smiled when told after the game that Carroll had scored the Rickey Run. But unlike Sparky Anderson — Lovullo’s first major league manager, someone who was known for comparing young players to Hall of Famers — he was not yet ready to make the lofty comparison to Henderson. “I don’t want to give him that yet,” Lovullo said. He added, “(Rickey) is in a class by himself. Corbin has some unbelievable tools…but I hesitate to put him in that category.”
Carroll scored the next run of the game as well, making it 5–0 with a one-out homer in the bottom of the sixth. It was a screaming liner to the right-field bleachers, and two batters later, Freeland exited stage left.
Putting the Game Away
Gallen had also reached the end of his night, having tossed six scoreless innings of five-hit ball. Scott McGough pitched a scoreless seventh in relief, the only blemish being a two-out double by Ezequiel Tovar. McGough also pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out the side while issuing a two-out walk. Kevin Ginkel closed out the game, allowing a one-out solo home run to first baseman Nolan Jones and a two-out single to Tovar in an otherwise uneventful ninth.
Lovullo said of the victory, “This was one of those games where, from a manager standpoint, there’s always things to work on, but so many things were done on a very good level today. That resulted in us coming close to shutting out a pretty darn pretty good offensive team.”
Quick Hits
With his first-inning walk, Profar extended his on-base streak to 37. It is the longest such streak in the majors this season. … McMahon entered the game having cracked an extra-base hit in five straight games. That streak ended, as he went 1-for-3 with an infield single and a walk. … Marte extended his on-base streak to 28 games with his first-inning home run. … Gallen’s home ERA, already tops in the majors, fell even further. Entering the game, it was 0.77; it fell to 0.66.
Looking Ahead
Gallen (7–2) earned the win, while Freeland (4–6) took the loss. The Diamondbacks (24–32) and Rockies (32–23) square off again Wednesday evening in the third game of their four-game set. Right-hander Dinelson Lamet (1–1, 12.66 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Rockies against Diamondbacks left-hander Tommy Henry (2–1, 4.50 ERA). This will be Lamet’s first start since 2021 and first ever in a Rockies uniform.
First pitch will be at 6:40 pm Arizona Time.
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