Stars align! Marte hits walk-off double after Carroll's clutch triple

PHOENIX -- It was a veritable Easter egg hunt for the D-backs to find that one decisive blow that would push them into the win column on Sunday.

It finally came on the first pitch in the bottom of the 10th in the form of a Ketel Marte 109.1 mph rocket double, giving the club its first walk-off win of the season, a 6-5 victory over the Braves at Chase Field.

“I just tried to have a good at-bat for my team,” Marte said on the D-backs’ postgame show. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard. That’s me right there.”

Marte -- who achieved 10 years of Major League service time Friday and still had the 1-0 balloons at his locker during his postgame media availability -- has certainly been squaring the ball up. His 13 balls in play this season at 101+ mph ties him for second in the Majors, behind only Atlanta’s Michael Harris II (14).

He led off the game with a 102.7 mph pull-side double from the right-handed batter’s box, making his late-game heroics a perfect book end. In between, he also sizzled a 116.9 mph grounder in the third that went for an out, but tied for the highest exit velocity recorded in the Majors this year and the fourth-highest of his career.

“He's just had a little bit of tough luck,” manager Torey Lovullo said of Marte. “He's still grinding and I'm proud of him for fighting through it and believing that this day is going to come.

“I felt like the storm was coming for sure.”

Paired with Corbin Carroll atop the batting order, the duo provided five hits, including Carroll’s go-ahead triple in the seventh, the latest installment of what has become an iconic Arizona baseball image: The right fielder with a face of sheer intensity as he whips around the bases at top speed.

In addition to the three hits, Carroll also swiped his first base of the season after a leadoff knock in the sixth. Entering the day, the D-backs had combined for just four stolen bases in their first nine games. With Jose Fernandez (Arizona’s No. 27 prospect) also nabbing his first bag in The Show, it’s a sign that despite the team’s combined .271 on-base percentage (third-lowest in the Majors), the D-backs are finding ways to scratch runs across.

“I think that's part of our game,” Lovullo said of the baserunning aggressiveness. “It's part of our DNA to read pitchers, find out how to get to the next base. The [next] 90 feet are very, very critical in this game and we do it to be successful.”

Cracking open an Easter egg is a little like the bullpen door swinging open: Sometimes there’s a reward inside and sometimes it’s not what you expected.

While Jonathan Loáisiga will be credited with a blown save for his inability to nail down the ninth inning, he ultimately stemmed the trouble he created, setting the stage for Marte’s walk-off double a frame later. Taylor Clarke, Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Taylor Rashi combined to not allow an earned run, a major step in the right direction for a relief corps whose 6.50 ERA ranks last in the National League through play Sunday.

“It was kind of a grinder,” said starter Brandon Pfaadt, who tossed 4 2/3 frames of three-run ball. “But I think it was an overall team win. We had a lot of guys come out of the ‘pen and do their jobs. … It’s a big, big testament to the type of team that we are.”

All told, the club finishes with a 5-2 opening homestand, having split the four-game set with the Braves after having swept the Tigers earlier in the week.

“I think this team is pretty confident innately,” Lovullo said before the game. “I think they believe in one another and they know that we're going to win some games, but when you get that validation by wins and losses, it only enhances what you already think.

“We have been playing good baseball, but offensively, we have not come close to hitting our stride -- and we will. It's just a matter of time, in my opinion.”