PHOENIX — Corbin Carroll‘s ability to hit helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win in his big league debut Monday night.
The top prospect’s ability to run helped him dodge a would-be postgame shower.
Carroll had a go-ahead, two-run double to break a fifth-inning tie and the Diamondbacks climbed out of an early seven-run hole to batter the Philadelphia Phillies 13-7 for the biggest comeback win in franchise history.
Following the game, fellow rookie Alek Thomas was among those who tried to sneak up during a postgame interview to douse Carroll with an icy shower. But the speedy Carroll did a quick side step and stayed dry.
“I saw him too easy,” Carroll said, laughing. “I kept an eye on him. I knew he was going to do something.”
The Diamondbacks trailed 7-0 early in the game but rallied for six runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth for a 12-7 lead.
Carroll had the hit that pushed the D-backs ahead, breaking a 7-all tie in the fifth with a line drive into left-center that brought home Christian Walker and Emmanuel Rivera. It was his first major league hit.
Carroll was promoted after hitting .303 with 22 doubles, 8 triples, 23 homers, 61 RBIs and 31 stolen bases over 91 games split between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
He has become one of the game’s consensus top prospects since being taken with the No. 16 overall pick by the Diamondbacks in 2019. This month, Carroll was the No. 1 prospect in ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel’s 2022 midseason rankings.
His promotion continues the D-backs’ push to move prospects — such as fellow outfielders Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas — to the big leagues as they continue their rebuild.
Carson Kelly added two hits and four RBIs, and Stone Garrett had a solo homer as Arizona won its fourth straight.
“I think everyone’s pretty much exhausted,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “There were so many different emotions.”
The Phillies scored in each of the first four innings and looked as though they were going to cruise. Kyle Schwarber had the biggest blow, hitting his NL-leading 36th homer deep into the right-field seats to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead in the fourth.
That’s when the D-backs started their comeback, scoring six in the bottom half to cut the deficit to 7-6. Second baseman Jean Segura made a costly error on a bobbled grounder with two outs that extended the inning, and Kelly made the Phillies pay with a three-run double down the right-field line.
Phillies starter Ranger Suarez gave up no hits through three innings but couldn’t get out of the fourth. He allowed six runs, just two earned, over 3⅔ innings.
The bullpen couldn’t stop the damage. Cristopher Sanchez (2-2) took the loss, giving up five earned runs while getting only two outs.
Luis Frias (1-0) got the win after 2⅓ innings of scoreless relief.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com