PHOENIX, AZ — After an tough loss to the Giants earlier in the week, the Diamondbacks entered their weekend series against the Phillies with heightened urgency and very little margin for error. The Diamondbacks’ postseason hopes hung by a thread, and the three-game series at Chase Field provided both reminders of the team’s shortcomings and flashes of why it could still be dangerous if it sneaks into October.
Game 1
Friday’s opener began with promise. A big, energetic crowd saw the Diamondbacks jump out
to a two-run lead in the first inning, giving Ryne Nelson some cushion. Ketel Marte set the tone with an early home run, and manager Torey Lovullo was pleased with the fast start.
“Ketel [Marte] gets off a good swing and hits a home run. Follow that up with another run and some good approaches [at the plate], you’re sitting 2-0. So I was very pleased with what happened early,” Lovullo said.
But Nelson, who has been Arizona’s most consistent starter, didn’t have his best stuff. Though he battled through four innings, the Phillies began wearing him down in the fifth. Harrison Bader’s two-out homer tied the game, and Nelson’s pitch count ballooned.
“Today is definitely one of those weird ones where I just didn’t necessarily have my best stuff,” Nelson said. “Went out there and competed with what I had. It was not just [the fifth], but I had trouble putting guys away with two strikes and then just didn’t quite feel like I had that putaway pitch tonight.”
Once the Phillies got into Arizona’s bullpen, the game tilted for good. The bullpen, already battered by season-ending injuries, gave up six runs over the final four innings in an 8-2 loss.
“We just kind of went into a different mindset, where the name of the game was execution, and we just were not executing at a high level in certain areas, at certain times,” Lovullo said. “You know, runners in scoring position, I feel like we gave a couple of at-bats away. We made a big error to start the eighth inning. I think we were misfiring some pitches, poor pitch sequencing, perhaps some mistakes. And this is a team, when you do something like that, they can put up those big points.”
Game 2
Saturday belonged to Corbin Carroll, whose relentless speed has turned him into baseball’s most prolific triple-hitter. His 17th of the season not only led the Majors but also set a new franchise record, surpassing his own mark from 2024 and Tony Womack’s from 2000.
“I’m trying to run hard out of the box and I kind of make a decision a little bit before second base,” Carroll said. “We just have a good ballpark for it.” Honestly, sometimes it seems like the decision is obvious to everyone before he even rounds first.
His teammates and manager were in awe of what he continues to do on the bases.
“He’s a massive cat out there,” Lovullo said. “Nobody gets around the bases faster. He’s running 30 feet per second, cutting off edges, doing everything he’s supposed to do fundamentally to get to third base. A ball in the gap is not a double. He’s thinking three. And it’s pretty remarkable. It’s fun to watch. I take my eyes off the ball and start watching him somewhere around first base.”
“It’s obviously a sight to see,” first baseman Pavin Smith said. “Seeing him pick up speed, and it definitely looks like he’s trying to run hard. You know the faces that he makes when he’s rounding second, going for third, are pretty funny. Then, he slides into third and it’s just back to just a straight face. So, it’s crazy. Seventeen triples. That doesn’t happen by accident. It’s impressive.”
Second baseman Ketel Marte added: “He’s fun to watch. And I just keep saying, he’s one of the best players in the league.”
Pitchers Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt echoed that feeling, with Gallen noting that “anytime he hits the ball down the line or in the right-field gap there’s a good chance it’s a triple,” while Pfaadt quipped, “Well, it used to be more exciting, but now it’s kind of normal. I’ve seen it too many times. I’m kidding, of course. What he’s doing this year with the triples is incredible.”
Arizona managed to get the win, and his performance served as the centerpiece of the night.
Game 3
On Sunday, Carroll took center stage once again. He became the first player in Diamondbacks history to join the 30-30 club, capping the milestone with a three-run homer in the second inning.
“Obviously, it was a goal of mine for the season to hit 30 homers and steal more than 30 bases,” Carroll said. “To accomplish some personal goals late in the year is great. There’s been some really good players that have come before me [with the Diamondbacks], and so I think just to be the first to do it is great.”
Carroll also joined Jimmy Rollins (2007) and Willie Mays (1957) as the only players in AL/NL history with 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 15 triples in a season.
“That’s great too,” he said. “Obviously, there’s a long history in this game, and so just to do something that’s historic in some way, I feel like it means you’re doing something right.”
The achievement came in the middle of a critical 9-2 win, powered by a six-run burst in the first two innings and six shutout frames from Eduardo Rodriguez.
“A bunt in there, a homer, I think everyone kept the line moving to create a big inning,” Carroll said. “And [we didn’t] look back from there.”
The victory, combined with the Mets’ loss to the Nationals, pulled Arizona within one game of both the Mets and Reds for the final Wild Card spot. For a team that sold off veterans at the Trade Deadline, still being in the race in late September was no small feat.
Lovullo acknowledged the team couldn’t help but scoreboard watch. “Our game was starting, and I walked out [to the dugout] and I think the [Mets] score was 3-2 in the ninth inning,” he said. “We’re watching it, of course, so I don’t know what happened or how it happened, but I saw it up on the board that they had lost, and I’m sure everybody else was zoned in on that as well.” Brandon Pfaadt also confirmed during a radio interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 that they all have been eyeing that scoreboard in right field.
For Carroll, though, the focus was simple: keep playing loose while understanding the stakes. “I still think that a lot’s got to go right for us,” he said. “We’ve got to show up, and each one of these games, obviously, matters a ton, so just got to take it one game at a time, but at the same time, not let it create unneeded pressure and just still play free like we’ve been playing these last few weeks.”
The Takeaway
The Diamondbacks won the series two games to one, and Carroll’s historic weekend kept the team’s postseason chances alive and provided a glimpse of what could still be ahead. For a club clinging to hope, Corbin breaking records and a starting rotation that is showing a resurgence of strength, both are a spark and a reason to believe.
