Marte, Carroll Each Homer Twice to Power D-backs over Braves

The Arizona Diamondbacks took a strong 8-3 victory in the opener of a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each belted two home runs, Zac Gallen put forward a solid effort, and Arizona's bullpen was able to preserve the lead.

Marte jumped on Braves' starter Spencer Strider early for a mammoth 445-foot blast to right field in the first inning. He would follow that up his very next at-bat, sending a laser line-drive deep for a two-run shot and spotting Arizona an early 4-0 lead. Marte finished 3-for-3 with two walks and the two homers.

Corbin Carroll later joined the homer party with with a solo shot of his own. Then, riding a 5-3 lead into the ninth, Carroll launched his second of the game, a two-out, three-run blast to right that provided three critical insurance runs and extended the D-backs' lead to 8-3. Carroll went 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBI.

"It was awesome," Carroll said to D-backs.TV's Jody Jackson postgame. "They've got a good lineup over there and they're capable of putting together some big innings, so to give us a little breathing room and keep [Justin Martinez] out of this one, that was nice."

"It's great having [Marte] hit behind me, I'll say that. I mean, he's just an incredible hitter, both sides of the plate. It's special to watch, it really is," Carroll said.

Tuesday's game was the first game all season that both Carroll and Marte collected multiple hits. They combined for six base hits and seven of Arizona's eight runs. It also marked the first time in franchise history that the top two hitters in the lineup each clubbed two homers in the same game.

"I thought the tack-on home run by Corbin after we gave up a couple little scratch runs to make it 5-3 was a really good momentum changer for us," manager Torey Lovullo told Jackson. "The whole team was super engaged today and played very well. ... It's fun to watch Ketel get into that mode. He gets hot, he carries teams when he's rested. This is what he looks like and he's in a very good spot."

Meanwhile, the scuffling Zac Gallen was in dire need of a Quality Start, and the right-hander delivered just that. Gallen was efficient early, collecting soft contact outs and swing-and-miss.

Lovullo praised his starter postgame:

"I thought he threw really convicted fastballs, put them on the plate, was driving guys off the plate, and just well-driven fastballs. And then the secondary stuff really came into play. ... He and Gabi got into a really nice rhythm. It was a lot of fun to watch," Lovullo said.

He spun seven innings with four strikeouts, allowing just four hits, one walk and three runs, though only two were earned. 21 of 27 first pitches went for strikes, as the righty was able to get ahead in counts.

Those two unearned runs marked the only truly problematic inning of Gallen's night. In the bottom of the fourth, he was jumped on for a one-out solo homer by Drake Baldwin and allowed a single.

But on what should have been the inning-ending groundout, Eugenio Suárez let the ball shoot under his glove into left field. The error was Suárez's ninth of the season, as the usually-steady third baseman has struggled defensively this season.

That led to a run and a runner at second — one that was quickly plated by a sharp single off Gallen and allowed Atlanta to pull within one run.

But perhaps most impressively of all, Arizona's struggling bullpen was able to put two zeroes on the board. Though Shelby Miller did put the tying run on base, he was rescued by a nice catch in center field by Alek Thomas, chasing down a deep flyout for the final out.

Ryan Thompson then needed only five pitches to collect three weak ground ball outs, shutting the door and keeping closer Justin Martinez from having to enter the game.

Arizona moves to 29-31, and will play for a series win on Wednesday at 4:15 p.m.