Ketel Marte hit a home run and drove in four runs, while Eugenio Suárez added two homers as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Texas Rangers 14-4 on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks won the first game of the series between last year’s World Series teams 6-0 and then took control early in the series finale against Cody Bradford (5-3).
Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning, Suárez added a solo home run in the second, and Marte hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning. Adrian Del Castillo contributed with a three-run homer in the fifth, and Suárez capped off a 4-for-4 day with a solo homer in the seventh.
“We’re really executing at a high level and it’s not just the slug that we saw today,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s patient at-bats waiting for our pitch, putting down the bat, handing it off to the next guy.”
Arizona (82-64) recorded a season-high 13 extra-base hits — 16 total — tying San Diego for the top NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks also closed to within 4 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Dylan Floro (6-4) walked a batter in the sixth inning after starter Merrill Kelly left in the fifth with a right hamstring cramp. Jordan Montgomery pitched three innings to earn his first career save.
“This offense is fun to watch,” Kelly said. “Everybody just kind of feeds off each other.”
Marcus Semien hit a solo homer and drove in two runs for the Rangers, who struggled to recover from Bradford’s first poor start since late July. The reigning champions are now 7 1/2 games behind in the AL wild card race with 16 games remaining.
“They swung the bats well,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. “We couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark and that got us in this series.”
The Diamondbacks completed the two-game interleague series by doing what they do best: jumping out to an early lead.
