Trio of youngsters fuel D-backs' comeback win

June 18th, 2023

PHOENIX -- The D-backs started slow but finished with a flurry Saturday night in a 6-3 win over the Guardians at Chase Field.

Here are three things to know about the game:

A big swing from Jake
It hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for D-backs outfielder . Sent to the Minors near the end of April for a little more than a month, McCarthy has had some mixed results since coming back up.

But over the past week, his bat has gotten red-hot, and he delivered when the D-backs needed him most Saturday.

Cleveland’s Shane Bieber had held Arizona to just two runs through seven innings, and the two teams were locked in a 2-2 tie when McCarthy led off the eighth with a homer into the pool area in right-center field.

That kick-started a four-run eighth inning and earned McCarthy the coveted “victory vest” that the team gives to the player of the game.

McCarthy was still wearing the vest in the clubhouse after the game.

“I hadn’t worn it yet,” McCarthy said. “So maybe I’ll drive home with it on tonight or something.”

Tommy stayed even par
D-backs starter  had a rocky first inning -- allowing a pair of hits and walking two, including one that forced home a run -- but he seemed to settle in from there, allowing just one more run before departing after six frames.

“Not the greatest,” Henry said. “But again, I've said it before, with this offense, you've just got to kind of hang around as a starting pitcher, do what you can to get outs, kind of wait for things to click for you and just give the offense a chance to do their thing. And more often than not, we're gonna come out on the winning side.”

The only other run Henry allowed came on a homer by Andrés Giménez in the third.

“He started to establish the command of a couple of pitches,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “And he started to mix in a quality changeup as well very late. So the slider was fantastic. You have the type of first inning that he had -- 27 pitches -- and then you end up throwing 88 or 89 through six? You’ve done a lot right.”

As for what changed for him after that first inning, Henry used a golf analogy.

“I'm watching the U.S. Open this weekend, and I love golf,” Henry said. “I feel like it's one of those things where you make your pars, survive with a bogey, no double bogeys, and wait for things to click.”

100th career game for Corbin
Saturday marked the 100th career game for D-backs rookie outfielder , and he celebrated by smacking a two-run homer in the eighth.

Carroll has been nothing short of amazing in his time in the big leagues, especially considering he was a high school Draft pick who played in just 142 Minor League games.

Carroll is the early front-runner for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and over the past two nights, D-backs fans have begun chanting "M-V-P!" when he gets a hit.

“It's been a lot of fun to watch from where I'm sitting, I'll tell you that,” Lovullo said. “And he just continues to impress me, and he does it with unbelievable focus and determination. The thing that I get to watch every day when I walk by the batting cage or batting tunnel is the preparation and what he does every day. 

"I mean, he's on a mission every day to win the day. And he's been very successful. It's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of fun for me and everybody else around him.”