MIAMI -- Josh Naylor hoisted a finger into the air as he rounded first base following a second-inning homer Wednesday night at loanDepot park.
The home run -- Naylor’s second in as many games -- bounced off Marlins center fielder Derek Hill’s glove on its way over the wall, and Naylor immediately reacted in triumph.
“Naylor pounded that pitch,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “It’s a long way to hit a home run there, and he got us started, and it was a great moment for us to play downhill baseball.”
That’s just how things have gone for this D-backs lineup lately: Things have bounced in their favor. And that’s especially been the case for its 1-4 hitters: Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Pavin Smith and Naylor, all who were pivotal to Arizona’s 6-2 win Wednesday.
The foursome entered the battle with the top combined OBP (.403) and OPS (.960) among all 1-4 hitters in the Majors, and it continued to make its mark at the plate in the win.
“It’s awesome,” Naylor said regarding his teammates’ success. “They have such great approaches, and they find a way to get on base. … It's incredible having them in front of you, and I try to do the best I can to score them.”
Naylor was a major catalyst in the D-backs’ 10-4 win over Miami on Tuesday. He emerged heroic again Wednesday, opening Arizona’s offensive output with the homer to center.
Naylor has now hit safely in 10 of his past 12 games -- having reached base safely in 15 of his last 18 -- while he’s homered in back-to-back games for the sixth time in his career.
Speaking of getting on base, Carroll continued to surge at the plate, extending his on-base streak to start the season to 18 games with an RBI single. The 2023 Rookie of the Year has now reached base in a career-high 24 games dating back to Sept. 23, 2024. He’s also the owner of a nine-game hitting streak.
“I’ve said all along Pavin can hit, we all know what Corbin is capable of doing,” Lovullo said. “Josh Naylor comes over with a huge resume, and then the one that’s standing out to me is Perdomo, who’s really evolved and grown as a hitter. We count on that part of the lineup.”
Smith mashed a 429-foot HR to center that Hill had no chance on in the seventh, with an exit velocity of 109.3 mph -- the second hardest hit ball of the game -- and finished 2-for-4 with a single in addition to his homer.
Meanwhile, Perdomo followed his homer Tuesday with a single Wednesday. He began the year as the second D-backs shortstop to hit safely in his first five games to start a season.
It’s an embarrassment of riches for Lovullo, which will only get richer when Ketel Marte returns from injury.
“We were kind of fantasizing about what it may or may not look like,” Lovullo said. “We’re gonna get better. We’re already an excellent baseball team. We’re gonna be just a little better when he joins us.”
And if Marte’s imminent return didn’t bring enough joy to the clubhouse, rookie Tim Tawa added another layer with his first career HR Wednesday.
The D-backs' No. 25 prospect -- who hit 31 homers in the Minors last year -- went 414 feet out to left-center field, and he had the ball by the time he got to the clubhouse postgame.
“Just ecstatic,” Tawa said. “I was just trying to hit a ball hard somewhere, and finally got a ball over the plate, and put a good swing on it … I had a lot of family here, so glad to do it in front of them.”