Corbin Carroll hit a pinch-hit home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to finish off a five-run comeback, and the Arizona Diamondbacks surprised the Washington Nationals with a 9-8 win on Monday night.
The D-backs were behind 8-4 going into the ninth inning, but Geraldo Perdomo’s RBI single scored Alek Thomas, and Ketel Marte followed with a two-run home run down the right-field line off Washington’s All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan.
“We’ve been saying it all year — we’re never out of the game,” Carroll said. “It’s not over until it’s over and we’ve been putting together some really great late-game at-bats and it’s been paying off.”
Finnegan (2-5) got Gabriel Moreno out for the first out before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled up the middle. That brought up Carroll, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year who has had a tough season.
But he hit a Finnegan splitter over the right-center fence to start a wild celebration for Arizona. It was Finnegan’s fifth blown save of the season in 33 chances.
“Just wasn’t able to get it done tonight,” Finnegan said. “I was ahead of every guy I faced — just wasn’t able to put them away.”
Washington took an early lead. C.J. Abrams struck out to start the game, but the next six Nationals reached base, building a 5-0 lead. Alex Call hit a three-run homer to left, his first of the season. James Wood and Keibert Ruiz also had RBI hits.
Call had just been promoted from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. The 29-year-old has played for the Nationals and Guardians over the past three seasons.
Washington went up 6-0 in the second inning on Harold Ramírez’s RBI single. Call, Ruiz, Ramírez, Juan Yepez, Ildemaro Vargas, and Jacob Young each had two hits.
For Arizona lefty Jordan Montgomery, it was another tough night in a difficult season. He now has a 6.51 ERA and hasn’t performed as well as the D-backs had hoped after they signed him to a $25 million, one-year deal in March.
