Corbin Carroll’s Big Night Carries Diamondbacks to Victory over Reds

After collecting six hits on the previous homestand, the Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo moved Corbin Carroll back to the leadoff spot. He rewarded his manager’s faith with two hits, a home run, and drove in the team’s first five runs in a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. He became just the third player in franchise history to have five RBI from the top spot in the order, with Steve Finley and Chris Young (twice) accomplishing the feat.

“I probably thought something spectacular was about to happen, but five RBIs wasn’t on my bingo card,” said Lovullo. “He executed to get that first one, a big base hit, just a lot of little things went right, but the home run was an impressive swing. He’s a good player and in my opinion, things were going to start to develop for him. I know he’s going to continue to work hard and have days like this.”

Carroll’s heroics were set up with a strong night from the bottom of the order. Jake McCarthy, Randal Grichuk, Tucker Barnhart, and Kevin Newman combined to reach base six times, putting the Diamondbacks in prime scoring opportunities as the lineup turned over to the top. Carroll capitalized on those opportunities, driving in runs in the third and fifth on a fielder’s choice groundout and an RBI single.

In the seventh, he had another chance to make an impact on the scoreboard and he delivered the game’s biggest hit. With runners on the corners and one out, he turned around a high fastball from left-hander Justin Wilson and hit a fly ball that just snuck over the wall in left center to break the game open. Ketel Marte then followed up with a solo home run just to the left of straightaway center to put Arizona up 6-0.