Corbin Carroll hit a grand slam off Edwin Díaz in the eighth inning, and with two home runs on the night, helped the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 8-5 on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks were behind 5-4 as they entered the eighth inning but managed to rally with two outs against the Mets’ closer. Díaz (5-3) came in with a runner on first base and quickly walked pinch-hitter Pavin Smith and Geraldo Perdomo before Carroll hit his second homer of the game into the right-field stands.
“The right man in the right spot stepped up,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “Corbin Carroll picked us up with one swing of the bat.”
This was Díaz’s sixth blown save of the season. Carroll hit a slider that Díaz left in the middle of the plate.
“My command wasn’t that good today,” Díaz said.
The Mets fell four games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks, the defending National League champions, have won 21 of their last 27 games, staying competitive in a tough NL West race that also includes the Dodgers and Padres.
Carroll has hit 14 home runs in the last 37 games, leading the team’s push up the standings after the All-Star break. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year was hitting just .213 with two homers at the end of June.
“I’m not trying to carry the team. I’m not trying to be the hero,” Carroll said. “I’m just trying to do something to help the team win every day. That’s been the goal, and I’m back in the space where I can do that.”
The Mets had come back from an early four-run deficit and took a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly to left field.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ran in to catch a line drive and made a perfect throw to home plate, but Starling Marte managed to avoid Adrian Del Castillo’s tag by getting his right hand around the glove and touching home plate. Marte reached base on a bunt single, stole second base, and moved to third on a groundout.
The Mets were behind 4-0 as they entered the fifth inning but managed to tie the game with a four-run inning. Harrison Bader hit a two-out, two-run homer to left field, making the score 4-all. The line drive left Bader’s bat at 110 mph.
“I thought we did a good job fighting back. We put together some good at-bats,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done.”
Luis Guillorme gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out RBI single. Arizona signed the veteran infielder on August 20 to add depth while All-Star Ketel Marte is out with an ankle injury.
Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer in the third inning to make it 3-0 for Arizona. Corbin Carroll added a solo home run in the fourth inning that traveled 440 feet, making it 4-0.
Mets right-hander Luis Severino struggled during his start, needing 100 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings. He allowed eight hits and four runs while striking out nine.
Diamondbacks lefty Eduardo Rodriguez started the game with four perfect innings but gave up four hits and four runs in the fifth inning. This was his fourth start of the year after missing much of the season due to a shoulder injury.
“I missed on three pitches and gave up four runs,” Rodriguez said.
Justin Martinez pitched a perfect ninth inning for his seventh save. Ryan Thompson (7-3) got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
