Corbin Carroll Leads Diamondbacks Against Rangers on Labor Day

The All-Star right fielder is on a tear and the Arizona Diamondbacks look to remain hot against their 2023 World Series foe.

Aug 31, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Corbin Carroll (7) celebrates as he rounds the bases on a three-run home run during the eighth inning off Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Tanner Scott (66) at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks host the Texas Rangers at Chase Field Monday, Labor Day. Game time is 5:10 p.m. MST, earlier than the usual Monday start time.

The D-backs are coming off taking two of three against against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a well-played series that ended in a walk-off loss on a Will Smith homer in the bottom of the ninth Sunday. Arizona had fought back from a 4-1 deficit thanks to a three-run homer by Corbin Carroll.

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The Diamondbacks had won four in a row before the loss and were 17-12 in August. They're now 68-70 on the season, and remain 5.5 games out of the third NL Wild Card, behind the New York Mets. They also trail the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants.

NL Wild Card Standings games through August 31 | SI.com

The Rangers have stormed back into the AL Wild Card chase by winning five in a row and eight of their last nine. They've averaged over seven runs per game and outscored opponents 69-24 during this stretch. Texas currently trails the Seattle Mariners by 2.5 games for the third wild card.

Former Diamondback Joc Pederson has finally found his mojo after a horrific start to his season. He's in the middle of a nine-game hitting streak in which he's gone 12-for-38, .316 with four homers and 12 RBI.

Former Diamondback Merrill Kelly will not pitch in this series as he pitched on Saturday.

Corbin Carroll is batting is batting 9-for 28, .321 over his last seven games, including three doubles, two triples, and a 1.010 OPS. Carroll's 72 extra-base hits are just one behind MLB leader Aaron Judge. 58% of his hits have gone for extra bases, which is tied with Cal Raleigh for the MLB lead.

With 27 doubles, 16 triples and 29 homers, Carroll is already in elite company when it comes to diversity of extra-base hits. There have been nine previous seasons where a player has reached at least those thresholds, and all but one of those players is in the Hall of Fame.

Diamondbacks and Rangers Starting Pitchers

Patrick Corbin and Ryne Nelson Stats | Jack Sommers

The D-backs will still face a former member of the organization in Patrick Corbin. The 35-year-old left-hander is having his best season since helping the Washington Nationals win a World Series in 2019.

While still higher than league average, his 4.33 ERA and 4.28 FIP would be the best he's posted in the last seven years.

Corbin has been extremely durable. His 260 starts since 2017 are the most of any pitcher in the majors during that time, and his 1,467 innings pitched are the third most. He's also given up 807 runs, which is 92 more than Kyle Gibson's 715, the second-most.

Corbin had a bounce-back outing in his last start, throwing eight shutout innings against the Angels August 26. The last time he faced the Diamondbacks was July 30 of last year, and he got bombed, giving up 11 runs on 13 hits while recording just nine outs.

Ryne Nelson is coming off a good start, throwing six innings and allowing just one run against the Milwaukee Brewers. His 3.53 ERA leads the team's starting pitchers. Going back to July 1, 2024, over his last 207.2 innings pitched Nelson has a 3.34 ERA backed by a 3.42 FIP.

He's struggled against the Rangers, however. On August 11 this year Texas knocked him around for five runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. Last year on May 29 he gave up four runs on five hits in six innings.

Nelson threw 5.1 solid innings against Texas in the World Series in 2023, allowing just one run on three hits. But the D-backs were already losing 10-0 by the time he came into the game.

Diamondbacks vs Rangers Lineups

(Check back later for lineup.)

Diamondbacks and Ranger Bullpens

The Rangers are going with a closer committee currently. Robert Garcia was closing up until mid-August, but hasn't had a save chance since three blown saves in the first half of the month. Shawn Armstrong recorded the most recent save for Texas last Friday.

The Rangers have been winning by such lopsided margins of late they haven't had to use a closer much. Overall their 3.67 bullpen ERA year-to-date ranks eighth, compared to the D-backs' 4.67 bullpen ERA which ranks 26th.

But for the month of August that script has been flipped. The D-backs' 3.72 reliever ERA ranks 11th while the Rangers 4.76 reliever August ERA ranks 23rd.

Andrew Saalfrank warmed up in Sunday's game, but didn't pitch. It's not clear if he's available. Brandyn Garcia threw 35 pitches and John Curtiss 23. Other than these three, all the other five relievers in Arizona's pen should be available.