Corbin in the clutch! Carroll belts 4th career slam to lift D-backs to series win

PHOENIX -- Corbin Carroll's eighth-inning, go-ahead grand slam off Jeff Hoffman led the Diamondbacks past the Blue Jays, 6-2, on Saturday night at Chase Field.

Hoffman entered the game in the eighth and allowed back-to-back singles before walking Ketel Marte to load the bases and bring Carroll to the plate.

Here's a look at three things to know about the game:

Trending: Nothing new here
Yet again, this was a game the Diamondbacks managed to win in the later innings. It wasn't a one-run game, but up until Carroll's grand slam it was a nip-and-tuck affair with neither team able to lead by more than one run.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo addressed his club's ability to play close games recently.

"We live in that dirty space," Lovullo said. "We like it. We talk about it all the time. We're gonna kind of drag you out to the deep water and beat water."

In their first 21 games, the Diamondbacks have played 10 one-run games and are 6-4 in them. It has become a comfortable space for them.

"I think just knowing we've played a lot of them and found a way to win a lot of them, I think maybe when you're in those situations you know you don't have to press," Carroll said. "You just keep going."

Give credit: The bullpen has provided a lot of relief
There's no getting around the fact that the bullpen was a sore spot for the Diamondbacks last season. They had 17 pitchers record saves and it wasn't because they wanted to, it was simply a matter of desperation due to injuries and ineffectiveness.

Some fans were unhappy that Arizona didn't do more to address the bullpen during the offseason, but it's hard to argue with the performance of the relievers so far this year.

Since April 4, the bullpen has allowed 12 earned runs in 46 innings, that's a 2.35 ERA.

"They've been really good," Carroll said. "It seems like whoever comes out of that gate is ready to go from pitch one and is attacking hitters, and it's been really fun to play behind them. Those guys got a tough job, and so it's a huge credit to them that they've been taking care of business the way they have so far."

Don't overlook: How the stage was set
Carroll will get his well-deserved props for hitting a Hoffman pitch the opposite way for a grand slam that put the game away, but it was the hitters ahead of him who made it possible.

The winning rally started with a ground ball up the middle by Ildemaro Vargas, who made the team as a utility player, but has stepped into a regular role due to injuries.

Alek Thomas, who doubled home a run in the fifth, then lined a single to left and Marte managed to draw a walk.

With the game tied and nobody out, that left Hoffman with zero margin for error and Carroll took advantage by hitting a 3-1 fastball to left-center field for the slam.

"We talk about building innings here," Lovullo said. "I loved how Vargas got on. I loved AT's base hit, but I thought the Marte at-bat was critical to get on base and load the bases. We want to build innings and at some point we're going to break through."