Diamondbacks Sweep Red Sox Behind Eugenio Suarez's Big Day

Merrill Kelly turned a poor outing into a solid one and the Suarez led offense kicked into gear to provide the come from behind victory.

Aug 25, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) reacts to his three run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks erased a 4-0 Red Sox lead to come back and win 7-5 on Sunday at Fenway Park. The win completed a three-game sweep for Arizona and improved their record to 75-56.

EUGENIO SUAREZ HAS ANOTHER BIG GAME

Eugenio Suarez Postgame televion interviews have become almost a daily occurrence. Host Jody Jackson quipped that Suarez was becoming her co-host as he was once again the player of choice for the broadcast.

Suarez had four hits in the game, three singles and a three-run homer in the sixth inning, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead. His 8 hits and 10 RBI are the most by a D-back all-time in a 3-game series at Fenway park. His two homers tied Luis Gonzalez and Paul Goldschmidt for the most in franchise history.

Suarez anticipated getting a sweeper from Houck. It's his trademark pitch and with runners in scoring position, he knew the Red Sox starter wouldn't throw a fastball. The home run indeed came on a first pitch sweeper that caught too much of the plate and Suarez was ready for it.

Geno Suárez REALLY loves the green monster.

The #Dbacks have come all the way back from down 4-0. pic.twitter.com/ljxNACnAVX

— Alex D’Agostino (@AlexDagAZ) August 25, 2024

"We've been playing great baseball and today we showed up to win the game." Suarez said to Jackson. "We were down by four, but the game doesn't finish until it's finished. We came here to compete. We never give up."

Suarez now has 20 homers and 79 RBI on the season and leads all of MLB in RBI since the All-Star break with 45. His batting average is up to .241 and OPS is at .748.

The comeback was started before Suarez's homer. Arizona finally got on the board in fifth inning. They loaded the bases with nobody out and all three came home to score. A groundout from Geraldo Perdomo, a sacrifice fly from Corbin Carroll, and a single to right by Jake McCarthy got the D-backs back in the game.

Perdomo also hit a home run in the 9th off the Pesky Pole in right field to stretch the D-backs lead to 7-4. It was his third homer of the year.

MERRILL KELLY BOUNCES BACK TO HAVE SOLID OUTING

One could be forgiven for wondering if Merrill Kelly was going to make it out of the fourth inning. He was already trailing 1-0 thanks to a 420 foot home run from Triston Casas in the first inning. That came on a 91 MPH sinker that stayed up in the middle of the zone.

Kelly retired six of the next seven batters, but the Red Sox opened the fourth by going single, single, homer. The big blow was a blast to dead center field by Rafael Devers, his 28th of the season and 200th of his career.

The next two batters both doubled but the first one, Masataka Yoshida was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Kelly walked a batter before finally getting the last out of the inning.

Kelly came back out for the fifth and walked the first two batters ahead of Casas and Devers. It looked ominous, but Casas popped up to shallow center and Devers hit into a 4-6-3 double play to get Kelly out of the inning.

Kelly retired the side in order in the 6th inning, including striking out Tyler O'Neill for the third time. Just like that, Kelly had turned around what appeared to be a disaster of a start into a solid outing that gave his team a chance to win.

There were a few concerning signs. His velocity for the game, while better than last time out, was still down to 90.8 MPH on the four seamer (It was 92.2 last year). Kelly allowed 10 batted balls over 100 MPH, the most in his career.

But with a final line of 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB., 5 K, and 2 HR, he left in line for the win, and his record improved to 4-0 thanks to the big comeback.

The bullpen was solid again. Joe Mantiply and A.J. Puk both pitched scoreless innings in the 7th and 8th. Justin Martinez gave up a homer to Tyler O'Neil just inside the Pesky Pole for the Red Sox final runs but shut it down from there to record his sixth straight save.

Puk was especially impressive, striking out the side in the eighth, mowing down the Red Sox two, three and four hitters.

A.J. Puk is dominating hitters and has been one a tremendous weapon for Torey Lovullo out of the pen

Here he is striking out the side against Red Sox 2-3-4 hitters

pic.twitter.com/tJY8j163ar

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) August 25, 2024

Box Score

The D-backs head home from their 6-3 road trip to enjoy a well deserved day off Monday. Play resumes on Tuesday against the red hot New York Mets. Eduardo Rodriguez will start for Arizona while left-hander Sean Manaea gets the ball for the Mets.