MLB's best team? D-backs continue torrid stretch with Fenway sweep

BOSTON -- The D-backs' nine-game, 11-day road trip didn't get off to a good start when they dropped the first three to the Rays.

"You start out 0-3 and there's curiosity as to what you're going to show up as on day four," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "They erased any questions that anybody could have had."

They sure did, as the D-backs went into Miami and swept the Marlins. That was just the start. On Sunday, they ran their winning streak to six games with a 7-5 come-from-behind victory to complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Arizona is the hottest team in baseball at the moment having now won 20 of its past 25 games. The D-backs have won 11 of their past 12 series, and suddenly it's fair to wonder if the team that currently holds the top NL Wild Card spot and is creeping up on the Dodgers in the NL West might just be the best team in baseball.

The D-backs made a surprise run to the World Series last year and arguably are a better team on paper this year.

"I'll leave that up to everybody else outside this clubhouse," Arizona starter Merrill Kelly said when asked if the D-backs are the best team in baseball. "I know everybody in this clubhouse feels a certain way about this team. I know a lot of our guys, if not all of our guys, feel that we're a better team than we were last year going into the playoffs. So everybody's opinion outside of this clubhouse, in my opinion, doesn't really matter. But I know that we know that we have a really good team and that we have a chance to do something special."

Of course, as the D-backs proved by getting hot at the right time in October, any team that qualifies for the postseason has a chance. Whether everything aligns for them come this October remains to be seen, but for right now, it's hard to find fault with the way they're playing.

"You know, after the tough series in Tampa where we lost three games, we then went to Miami and swept them and here too," third baseman Eugenio Suárez said. "It's really good and a lot of good things and positive things for us right now."

Suárez is a big part of what is happening. He helped carry Arizona in the series in Boston, collecting 10 RBIs, the most he's had in a three-game series in his 11-year career.

Suárez's grand slam in the opener of the series helped blow that 12-2 win open, and Sunday he was a key player in Arizona's comeback.

The Red Sox jumped on Kelly early in the game, running out to a 4-0 lead -- the first time they had led in any game in the series -- before the D-backs' offense got going.

As usual, it wasn't just hits that did it for the D-backs, as they worked Red Sox starter Tanner Houck for two walks during a three-run fifth that cut the deficit to one run.

One inning later, after Pavin Smith singled and Adrian Del Castillo walked, Suárez hit one off the light tower above the Green Monster for a three-run homer that gave the D-backs a lead they would not relinquish.

Since July 7, Suárez has an MLB-best 45 RBIs. Quite an accomplishment for a player who was hitting just .196 and had some fans calling for him to be released at the end of June.

"I'm not trying to be a hero, you know?" Suárez said. "I enjoy my process. I work hard and put everything I have on the field."

Right now, everything Suárez and the D-backs have appears to be more than enough.