Gritty Offensive Performance Powers Diamondbacks to 6-4 Win

The Diamondbacks come away with a win in the series finale against the Tigers with a strong team effort

Corbin Carroll slides in safe with leadoff triple against the Tigers May 19, 2024 / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Diamondbacks managed to take a huge series finale against the Detroit Tigers by a score of 6-4 in a game of pitching attrition.

An early afternoon getaway day for the Dbacks turned into an offensive game early, as the snakes jumped on Matt Vierling early. They managed to record two runs in the first inning, marking the first time the Diamondbacks have been able to record a first inning run in 9 games.

This early offense was powered by Corbin Carroll's 2nd triple in as many games, this one an opposite field blast that nearly left the ball park. Carroll's power was then followed by a rally which included a Marte walk, Joc Pederson RBI double and Christian Walker RBI sac fly.

Yesterday a rip to right, today a blast to left

Triples on back to back days has Corbin Carroll looking like he’s on the right track now#Dbacks

pic.twitter.com/p58GqE6dNr

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) May 19, 2024

Christian Walker specifically had a big game with two sacrifice fly's, and a huge single in the 7th inning against Alex Faedo. He set the bar early on a trend that would continue throughout the game of "team at-bats".

Walker had some thoughts about the team's mentality coming into today's game after the final pitch. "Today's game was about us. It was about proving something to ourselves...manufacturing runs and doing anything we can to keep ourselves in a spot to win".

While Walker himself showed the team mentality it was something that flowed throughout the whole lineup. Joc Pederson had a big night collecting an RBI double early, but later had Randal Grichuk take over, sparking a big moment for the Dbacks.

Ketel Marte had another good game, getting on base three times with two singles extending his MLB leading hit streak to 18. While Marte has been a steady force at the plate, tonight was a positive sign for him as this is only the second time in this 18 games where he has gotten multiple hits.

The Diamondbacks won on 6 runs but it wasn't only the offense that did a good job. Jordan Montgomery pitched very well tonight, going 6 frames of 4-run ball, allowing only 5 hits, and 2 walks. He seemed to have to work on his toes today, only collecting 8 whiffs against Detroit. This also came with only three strikeouts, matching his season debut in San Fransisco.

The pitching staff that followed Montgomery had a mixed day, but managed to get through some key innings and deliver a huge victory.

Ryan Thompson came in first, and in a very rare occurance faced some struggles. He entered with a runner on first and no out and got two key outs, before allowing an RBI Triple to Kerry Carpenter. The "triple" was nearly an inside-the-park home run, saved by a clutch relay play to nab Carpenter at the plate which manager Torey Lovullo called a "push moment" to stop momentum moving into the Tigers dugout.

Thompson was then tasked with getting three more outs in the 8th. He continued to work with runners on base but escaped cleanly with a massive strikeout in a nail biting inning which had fans at the edge of their seats.

There was lots of "Jumping Around" at Chase Field today, as it was once again time for Paul Sewald to pitch. He absolutely dominated the Tigers hitters, generating two weak fly balls and collecting a strikeout in his 4th appearance of the season.

Torey Lovullo reflected the same sentiment as Walker in his postgame press comference. "I watched team at-bats all day long...that to me is who we are. Those team aspects show up on the days that are positive".

And today's game was certainly positive. The Diamondbacks manage to avoid a sweep and head on the road to face the Dodgers in a huge three game series in LA, returning to Southern California for the first time since handing Los Angeles losses in games 1 and 2 of the National League Division Series.

In a big shakeup, Lovullo announced after today's game that Joe Mantiply will open the first game of the Dodgers series. Slade Cecconi will work behind him out of the bullpen. Lovullo likes the matchup of Mantiply vs the Dodgers' big three at the top of the lineup.

We saw this quite a few times near the end of the 2023 season with Cecconi, opting to protect him early. Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for LA facing the Dbacks for the second time in his young MLB career. First pitch in L.A. is 7:10 PM on Monday.