The Arizona Diamondbacks will arrive at the ballpark on Tuesday as owners of the best record in the National League.
Arizona will be seeking its seventh straight win and 13th in 15 games when it battles the Philadelphia Phillies in the second contest of a four-game set in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks, who finished 58 games below .500 in 2021, are 16 games above the break-even mark after prevailing 9-8 in a wild and testy affair between the two teams on Monday.
Arizona’s Evan Longoria homered and had four RBIs and rising star Corbin Carroll reached base four times on a triple, a single and two hit by pitches.
The Diamondbacks rallied from four runs down to beat the Phillies one day after rallying for five runs in the final two innings to beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5.
“Another great game, another come-from-behind victory,” Carroll said. “It seems to be a trend right now. It makes it a little more interesting.”
Carroll is 15-for-29 (.517) with four homers, three doubles, two triples, 10 RBIs and 12 runs over the past seven games.
The 22-year-old is so hot that Arizona manager Torey Lovullo exploded from the dugout when Carroll was hit by a pitch for the second time in three innings by Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm.
Lovullo got into heated exchanges with plate umpire Vic Carapazza and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto before being ejected. Both benches cleared, but no punches were thrown.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for J.T. Realmuto,” Lovullo said. “He is a tremendous catcher. He is a tremendous player in this league. I know what it looked like. This was me protecting our player and him protecting his pitcher, and it was just a disagreement. I don’t want to talk about what was said.”
However, Phillies manager Rob Thomson has a major problem with Lovullo.
“Yes, I do. Because I wouldn’t do that,” Thomson said. “I wouldn’t yell at another team’s player.”
Realmuto was a thorn with his bat as he drove in three runs while becoming the first Philadelphia player since David Bell in 2004 to hit for the cycle. He also is the first catcher to do it since George Kottaras accomplished the feat for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011.
Realmuto said, “It kind of sucks honesty, obviously doing it is a cool accomplishment, but it’s tough because we lost.”
The Phillies have won seven of nine games despite the Monday loss. They also dropped to 4-13 in Phoenix since the start of the 2017 season.
Philadelphia right-hander Zack Wheeler (4-4, 3.91 ERA) will start on Tuesday. He had a no-hit bid for 7 1/3 innings in his latest start before it was broken up by the Tigers’ Tyler Nevin on Thursday. He departed at that point and an unearned run crossed later in the inning to leave him with a no-decision. Wheeler struck out eight and walked one.
Wheeler, 33, lost to the visiting Diamondbacks on May 22 when he gave up four runs (three earned) and eight hits over six innings. He is 5-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 10 career starts against Arizona.
Wheeler has struggled with Christian Walker (6-for-14, one homer), Ketel Marte (4-for-10, one homer) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (3-for-7, one homer).
Right-hander Zach Davies (1-1, 4.68 ERA) is making his sixth start of the season for the Diamondbacks. He beat the Washington Nationals in his most recent outing when he gave up two runs, five hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings while striking out a season-high eight on Wednesday.
Davies, 30, is 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA in four career starts against the Phillies. Kyle Schwarber has belted four homers off Davies despite being just 6-for-32 (.188) against him. Josh Harrison is 8-for-18 (.444) vs. Davies.
–Field Level Media