Corbin Carroll hit a home run on the second pitch of the game, while Merrill Kelly pitched six solid innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks secured a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, giving manager Torey Lovullo his 500th career win.
Lovullo, the longest-serving manager in franchise history in his eighth season, achieved the milestone after Arizona had lost five consecutive games.
“The players are the ones that win these games,” Lovullo said. “I’ve been so honored to be their manager for all these years, and 500 victories are amazing.”
Randal Grichuk also hit a home run, and Gabriel Moreno had four hits, including two doubles, supporting another strong performance from Kelly. He has now pitched at least five innings in 32 consecutive starts, the second-longest active streak in the majors behind Pittsburgh right-hander Mitch Keller.
Kelly (2-0) has had success against the Rockies both at home and away. He has won three of his last four starts at Coors Field and four of his past five outings against Colorado.
Ryan Thompson pitched for four outs, and Kevin Ginkel had a clean ninth inning for his first save of the season.
Carroll’s early home run and Moreno’s double followed by Christian Walker’s single gave Kelly quick run support.
The Rockies scored one run in the bottom of the first inning when Ezequiel Tovar crossed home plate on Ryan McMahon’s groundout. However, Grichuk homered leading off the second inning against his former team, marking his first home run of the season.
“It was just a matter of time for those guys,” Walker commented on Carroll and Moreno’s hits. “The beginning of the season is a tricky thing — you never start as good as you want, or you surprise yourself. With guys like Corbin and Gabby, it’s not a matter of if, it’s when.”
Colorado starter Cal Quantrill (0-2) settled down after the early runs, allowing only four more hits in six innings. He struck out six batters and didn’t issue any walks in his first home start for the Rockies.
“I’ve got to be better in the first inning,” Quantrill acknowledged. “First time pitching in Denver in a long time, kind of took a second to figure out what was going to work and what wasn’t.”
