D-backs All-Stars Marte, Carroll, Suárez provide highlights on big stage

ATLANTA -- The Arizona Diamondbacks are used to hot weather.

Summer temperatures in the area are known for climbing north of 110 degrees. And though Atlanta’s southeastern humidity makes for a different airiness than the West, it was no match for Arizona’s hot bats in the 95th MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard.

Ketel Marte got the party started for the National League team in the first inning, plating Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. with a double down the right-field line off a 98.1 mph sinker from AL starter Tarik Skubal.

Marte lifted both hands in the air with a luminous smile as he celebrated the NL’s first runs of the game.

Marte got to celebrate again in the bottom of the sixth when his teammate Corbin Carroll cranked a 414-foot home run to right center, giving the NL a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, Eugenio Suárez, who took a pitch off his left hand in the bottom of the eighth, came up with a stellar barehanded play in the next inning to douse Maikel Garcia at first base.

Not to worry, Snakes fans. Suárez said postgame that his hand was OK.

“I'm doing good right now,” Suárez said with a smile. “Yeah, the X-ray was negative. Everything looked good on my finger. Obviously, at the moment, I was a little bit [hurting] … but thank God nothing was broken. Everything looked fine. And let's see the next two days.”

The dynamic trifecta was all smiles following their performance, especially given the game’s gripping ending: A 7-6 National League win following a stirring swing-off.

“I think we enjoyed it a lot,” Suárez said of the newly implemented tiebreaker, “because it was a surprise for us. It was a surprise, but we enjoyed it a lot, and it was a good moment.”

“I didn’t even know that was a thing until the ninth inning,” Carroll said. “I enjoyed that piece. … All the players were really into it, I think I heard a pitcher say that he was more nervous for that than his actual pitching. So it was cool.”

Carroll’s homer -- which came off the bat at 104.5 mph against Tigers pitcher Casey Mize, was the first for a Diamondback in All-Star Game history. Arizona was the only team without an All-Star home run prior to Carroll’s blast.

“I got kind of everything,” Carroll said of the four-pitch at-bat that netted the solo shot. “Got the fastball, [two splitters] and then got the [slurve] at the end, and he kind of left it up. I was able to put a good swing on that one.”

The shot finished off a four-run inning for the NL, which began courtesy of a three-run shot from Pete Alonso. Alonso and Carroll’s home runs marked the first occasion since 2022 that two homers were hit in the same half-inning (it’s happened 18 times in all), and the first instance for the NL since 1977.

Meanwhile, Carroll and Marte’s RBIs made them the first pair of teammates with at least one RBI in the same Midsummer Classic since 2021.

“I can’t say enough good things about Ketel,” Carroll said. “The player that he is, it’s just incredible to watch.”

The brotherly love was flowing all around, with Marte echoing Carroll’s sentiments.

“He’s the best,” Marte said of Carroll. “Every time I say he’s one of the best players in the big leagues, and he’s got a lot of talent. I’m not surprised [he homered].”

Marte’s double made him the fourth player in D-backs franchise history to register an RBI in the All-Star Game.

“With a guy like [Skubal],” Marte said, “Cy Young [winner], throws 100 mph, I was just trying to do my best to play short and get contact. I didn’t want to strike out.”

The Diamondbacks’ band of brothers enjoys watching each other play. But more than that, they enjoy being around each other, and hope to see that joy percolate into sustained success as the season’s second half looms.

“It was really fun being able to spend this weekend with [Ketel] and Geno as well,” Carroll said. “It was just a good week. … I really enjoyed it.”