Corbin Carroll's 2 Run Triple Keys Comeback Win

One night after having his decisions second guessed following a crushing loss, Torey Lovullo pushed all the right buttons in a D-backs 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

His first big strategic decision was to let Merrill Kelly go back out for the sixth inning. Kelly returned from the injured list tonight one month after having a blood clot in his left leg. He allowed just one run through the fist five innings, coming off a double steal with runners on first and third. He also faced runners on first and second with two outs in the second inning, but other than that he was never really in trouble.

Being his first start back however Kelly was a little fatigued. Speaking after the game he said "I was a little tired there towards the end. I told Torey [Lovullo] I could give him one more, but he had a watchful eye on me in the sixth". Kelly also spoke about working with Carson Kelly who called the pitches today, as opposed to calling them himself with the pitch com. Kelly's final line was 6 IP, 4 Hits, 1 ER, 2 Walks and 5 Strikeouts.

Lovullo went to the bullpen and got a scoreless inning on six pitches from Luis Frias in the seventh. In the eighth inning there was a tense moment when Miguel Castro walked two batters around two strikeouts. Lovullo went out to make the pitching change, bringing in Kyle Nelson. While doing so he spoke with each of his infielders to get their focus back as he felt they were drifting a little bit. Nelson got Nolan Gorman to fly out to end the inning and hold the deficit at one run.

Cardinals starter Steven Matz held the Diamondbacks offense in check, throwing six scoreless innings, scattering five hits and walking just one batter. It seemed like the D-backs slump would continue but they finally broke through in the 8th.

Keel Marte smoked a ball in the gap and charged into third base with a triple, gesturing excitedly to his teammates and the fans to stand and cheer. The Chase Field crowd and the bench were both energized, and rewarded when Jake McCarthy chopped a base hit past a drawn in infield to tie the game.

From there a critical sequence took place. McCarthy had moved up to second on ground and Christian Walker struck out with Corbin Carroll on deck seemingly prepared to pinch hit. But as Walker went back to the dugout so did Carroll. Dominic Canzone popped out to take the at bat. Lovullo's thinking was that the Cardinals would have walked Carroll.

Canzone had a terrific at bat, laying off some tough pitches, and now with first base no longer open Carroll popped back out of the dugout. Responding to to chants of MVP, and just like he has so many times this season, Carroll came through with the big hit, banging a triple off the wall in centerfield to score McCarthy and Canzone with the go ahead runs.

Speaking of the decisions made there Lovullo said "You've got to trust your gut and your instincts. Ollie (Oliver Marmol, Cardinals Manager) is a great manager. I felt like if he had to choose between A or B he was going to change anyone other than Corbin."

Finally, Lovullo turned to Kevin Ginkel for the save in the ninth. The night before he was questioned why he didn't go to Ginkel for the save when Andrew Chafin got in trouble. This time he had no such hesitation turning to the big right hander. "Based on some of the thoughts I had after last night's game I wanted to get a look at that. It's up to me to make some adjustments". Ginkel rewarded him by locking down the save, getting a game ending double play.

Manager make hundreds of decisions big and small every game and the ones that don't work out stick out like a sore thumb. Lovullo was philosophical about the decisions that went right tonight.

Sometimes the puzzle falls together the way you want and sometimes it doesn't. I'm the same dopey manager that managed the game last night that kinda pushed us into a corner and helped us lose the game, that maybe pulled some pieces together tonight and it worked out right. I promise you that every time I do something there is a strategy and some thought behind it . It just worked out and the players responded. It was a great moment for this team.

With the win the D-backs keep pace in the tightly bunch NL Wild Card race. They sit in the middle of a pack of five teams separated by just 1.5 games. The rubber game of the three game set is tomorrow, with Zac Gallen taking the mound, 12:40 first pitch.

Check out the highlights from tonight's game, down below

Diamondbacks Come From Behind Victory Over Cardinals https://t.co/FCWrepYjPz #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) July 26, 2023