D-backs end strong road trip with sweep in Chicago

CHICAGO -- Music was heard through the doors of the visiting clubhouse at Guaranteed Rate Field, outfielder Stone Garrett received another celebratory shower and there were a lot of smiling faces as the D-backs' players enjoyed some Chicago-style deep dish pizza before heading to the airport and their chartered flight back to Phoenix.

It was the enjoyable end to a road trip in which the team won four of five games, including a 3-2 win Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of the White Sox. The sweep of the South Siders came on the heels of splitting a pair of games against the Royals.

The D-backs’ four-game winning streak matches the longest of the year and puts them just eight games below the .500 mark. After finishing the first half at 40-52, the D-backs are 18-15 since then and 14-11 in August.

"Since the All-Star break, it's been that kind of mentality of grind through games [knowing you’re] always going to be there at the end of it," said right-hander Zach Davies, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings Sunday. "You know, you're not going to win all of them, but it's great to end a road trip like that and get a sweep and just play good quality baseball."

The D-backs were up against one of the best pitchers in the American League in Dylan Cease, and they managed to take a 1-0 lead in the second when Garrett hit his first Major League home run.

That, of course, necessitated a postgame beer, shaving cream, water and, well, you name it kind of shower. It was the third one for the rookie since being called up a couple of weeks ago. The first was from his teammates at Triple-A Reno when he got the callup, the second was when he got his first hit in his first game with the D-backs and Sunday's completed the trifecta.

"That's a good and bad thing," Garrett joked about the showers.

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It would take more than Garrett's homer, though, as the White Sox managed to take a 2-1 lead and chase Davies in the sixth.

In the eighth, though, the D-backs managed to tie the game, as Sergio Alcántara homered off Cease. One inning later, they cashed in on a pair of walks from Kendall Graveman when Jake McCarthy drove home the winning run with a double to right-center field.

"I was trying to get a good pitch to hit, see [the ball] up," McCarthy said. "He was obviously wild earlier in the inning, so I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit and try to sit in the middle of the field or something."

The D-backs return home for a seven-game homestand against a pair of good teams. They open with three games against the Phillies before the Brewers come to town for a four-game set. The last time the D-backs were at home, they were swept in a three-game series by the Cardinals.

They now feel like a different team headed home.

"After the Cardinals' sweep a week back, it's nice to go on the road and win some games and gain some momentum here for this home stretch," McCarthy said. "We've got about a month left, so we're trying to finish strong."