The Diamondbacks crushed the Texas Rangers 14-4 at Chase Field, completing a two-game sweep of their half of a home-and-home series. The offense tied the franchise record for extra-base hits with 13 and launched five home runs against the Rangers’ pitching staff, with two players flirting with the cycle.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Spearheading the offensive attack were Ketel Marte and Eugenio Suárez, who combined to go 7-for-8 at the plate with three home runs and five extra-base hits. It marked the first three hits for Marte since he was activated from the injured list Friday. For Suárez, it was another multi-homer game, pushing him up to 28 home runs and 92 RBI on the season.
No cycle for Geno tonight. He’ll have to settle for a 2-homer game instead. pic.twitter.com/wKHlfQh2j0
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) September 11, 2024
Since July 1, he’s been the most productive hitter in the National League, hitting .328 with 22 home runs, 60 RBI, and a 1.068 OPS. The average ranks second behind Xavier Edwards’ .330 mark while the other three pace the NL.
“It’s been awesome,” said Suárez in the on-field postgame interview on DbacksTV with Jody Jackson and Brandon Webb. “Seeing those numbers means a lot to me, I’ve been working hard for those numbers and I’m so happy to have the success. Not only for me personally, but the team. We’ve been playing good baseball.”
The Diamondbacks did not leave this game unscathed, as Merrill Kelly left the game in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers. After missing with a curveball to Marcus Semien, he felt his hamstring cramp and called Adrian Del Castillo to the mound. Manager Torey Lovullo came out with trainer Max Esposito before Kelly walked off the mound. The injury was rather unfortunate, as the veteran right-hander looked sharp to begin the game.
“Merrill had some right hamstring camping,” said Lovullo postgame on Dbacks TV. “I just appreciate in the heat of the moment for him to be able to step back and realize the most important thing was to call out his catcher and call us out to let us get our thoughts and our hands and our minds on the best decision to move forward and make sure that we preserve him. Once I heard it was cramping, it was no-brainer for me, I decided to remove him from the game.”
Lovullo and Kelly both believe this should not impact his availability to start in five days in Colorado.
The good news for the Diamondbacks was the offense showed up early and often. They jumped Rangers starter Cody Bradford with three straight extra-base hits to open the game. Randal Grichuk had the big blow of the inning, crushing a two-run homer for the 200th of his career. They tacked on two more runs in the second, courtesy of Suárez’s 27th homer of the season and an RBI single from Marte.
With an early lead, Kelly was surgically attacking the strike zone for the first time through the order, retiring eight of the first nine hitters. His lone mistake through three innings was a center-cut fastball to Marcus Semien, who crushed a home run to left for the Rangers’ first run of the game. Texas scratched across a second run against Kelly in the fourth with three straight singles before he got out of the frame.
After a walk to Taveras to start the fifth inning, he threw three pitches to Semien before getting removed. That brought in Slade Cecconi from the bullpen, a questionable choice with a runner on base. A couple of mental errors by the rookie caused the inning to escalate, as the Rangers scored a pair of runs and got the tying run to the plate. Cecconi was removed in favor of Kevin Ginkel, who induced a flyout to center to end Texas’ last scoring threat of the day.
Even as the game got tighter, the Diamondbacks offense continued to pound away against the Rangers bullpen. Adrian Del Castillo got those runs back with interest, hitting a three-run home run just out of the reach of Adolis GarcÃa in right. The Diamondbacks scored in seven of the eight innings they came up to bat on the day.
Jordan Montgomery pitched the final three innings, holding the Rangers to just two singles and a walk over the final three innings to secure his first career major league save.
Next Game
The Diamondbacks will have an off day on Thursday, but then play the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. Arizona will go with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 5.83 ERA) while Milwaukee will send right-hander Tobias Myers (7-5, 2.93 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 6:40 P.M. MST on Friday.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
