Carroll fuels comeback for sweep of Tigers, 5-0 trip

DETROIT -- In any other park, Corbin Carroll might have hit for the cycle. At Comerica Park, he didn’t -- but the D-backs will certainly take it.

Putting together a three-hit game in a 7-5 win over Detroit on Sunday afternoon, helping to lift Arizona to a fifth consecutive win and a series sweep, Carroll tripled in the first, doubled in the eighth, and knocked an RBI single during a four-run ninth to help shepherd along a last-ditch comeback rally.

The D-backs now hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Dodgers atop the National League West.

In the third, meanwhile, he crushed a 414-foot flyout to straightaway center. It came off his bat at 101 mph, and according to Statcast would have been a home run in 19 out of 30 big league parks. He hit it to the deepest part of Comerica Park’s spacious center field: after making a catch there on Friday, outfielder Jake McCarthy described it as “like the Polo Grounds.”

The red-hot Carroll picked up his third three-hit game in his last four contests. He’s 10-for-19 (.526) over that span, with three doubles, a triple and three homers. With the win, the D-backs improved to 40-25.

“I’m always looking for him every time we’re getting through the lineup and we’re attempting to score runs,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “He’s just a locked-in player right now, and getting after it. And I know that every player looks for runs like this that he’s on. It’s fun for all of us to watch.”

Running out his triple, Carroll went from home to third in 10.93 seconds. That’s the second-fastest in the Majors this season, behind only Elly De La Cruz (10.83).

In the ninth, after Emmanuel Rivera singled and Ketel Marte walked leading off the inning, Carroll smacked a line-drive single to left-center. It was another laser, coming off his bat at 109.8 mph and nearly clipping Rivera on its way into the outfield. Rivera nonetheless came around to score, bringing the D-backs within one run at 5-4.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. flied to right for the second out, but Christian Walker, down to his last strike, ripped a liner down the left-field line that Kerry Carpenter bobbled, allowing both the tying and go-ahead runs to score. Geraldo Perdomo followed with an RBI single of his own. The four-run rally handed the D-backs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, as Andrew Chafin and Scott McGough combined to finish off the game in the ninth, working around a triple and a walk to corral the victory.

“You’re down to your final out, you’re fighting and scratching all day long for every inch, and you come up with the big hit,” Lovullo said. “It’s just a testament to what these guys believe every single day. That they can go out and win a baseball game no matter what the circumstances are.”

Teammates have praised Carroll for his unflappable composure, and in the ninth, Carroll saw the same thing from his team.

“There’s no panic, everyone’s relaxed,” he said. “And when you’re playing relaxed, you’re playing good baseball.”

Before their rally in the ninth, the D-backs had a chance to stage an earlier comeback in the eighth, kickstarted by -- what else? -- Carroll’s double, a line drive he tattooed down the left-field line. Easily cruising into second, Carroll stole third against Alex Lange with a jump so good that catcher Eric Haase didn’t even make a throw, then came home on Gurriel’s RBI groundout.

The stolen base was Carroll’s 19th of the season. He’s been caught only twice, and not since April 29.

“I have a red light/green light system, and he has a green light,” Lovullo said. “He just picks really good times. We study a lot about times to steal and when not to steal. So he’s doing it basically on his own.”

Nick Ahmed’s bases-loaded strikeout ended the frame without the D-backs scoring again, but the rally helped turn over the lineup, so that Carroll would come up in the ninth with a chance to spark another surge.

So he did.

“I joked in the handshake line, ‘I’ll bet you I can guess who the player of the game was,’” said starter Zac Gallen. “He’s just an unbelievable talent. The way the lineup was stacking up there in the ninth inning, it was like, ‘Alright, we’ve just got to get somebody on for Corbin, see him make something happen.’”