The home run by the odds-on favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year came against Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Alex Young and gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2 win.
By winning the first game of the four-game series the Diamondbacks jumped a half-game ahead of the Reds for the third wild card spot.
The bizarre?
Arizona starting pitcher Merrill Kelly was unhittable, twisting Cincinnati hitters into soft pretzels with a devastating change-up.
He retired 21 of the 22 Reds he faced and struck out 12. The only Reds baserunner for seven innings was a leadoff double by Noelvi Marte in the third inning.
But when Kelly warmed up for the eighth, something happened and he walked off the mound to the dugout, accompanied by an athletic trainer.
Meanwhile, Reds starter Brandon Williamson littered the basepaths with runners, but didn’t give up a run during his six innings.
Arizona had hits in the first, second, third, fifth and sixth innings and couldn’t score. They left two on in the third, fifth and sixth innings.
Their best chance was in the fifth when they had runners on third and first with one out. Ketel Marte grounded hard to third. Carroll tried to score and Noelvi Marte threw him out.
Williamson has faced the Diamondbacks twice this season and given up one run over 12 innings. But he reached 98 pitches Wednesday after six innings and manager David Bell replaced him with Buck Farmer.
After getting ahead of No. 8 hitter Nick Ahmed 0-and-2, Farmer walked him. No. 9 hitter Gabriel Moreno, who had three hits, lined a single off Farmer’s leg. Ketel Marte singled to fill the bases with no outs.
Bizarre? Pinch-hitter Jace Peterson lined one off the right field fence ... and Arizona scored only one run.
Ahmed scored, but for some reason Moreno stopped at third. Marte was on his way to third and Peterson to second. When Marte saw Moreno standing on third, he retreated to second.
Peterson was already on second so two runners were on the bag. Then, for some foolish reason, Moreno broke for home and first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand threw him out.
Farmer retired the next two on fly balls, so Arizona scored only one run when they had the bases loaded with no outs and a ball was hit off the wall.
Now, the dramatics.
Left-hander Kyle Nelson replaced the injured Kelly for the eighth inning. Bell sent up Nick Senzel to pinch-hit.
Nick Senzel? Yep, Nick Senzel, the guy who was exiled to Class AAA Louisville a few days ago and many believed that would be the last time he buttoned on a Reds uniform.
He rushed from the Phoenix airport to the ballpark and wonder of wonders he lifted a home run over the left field wall to tie it, 1-1 — the second Reds player of the night to reach base.
And the Reds weren’t finished, not the Rally Reds. With one out Marte walked. After Will Benson struck out, Miguel Castro came on to pitch.
On his first pitch, Marte stole second and scored on Tyler Stephenson’s single, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead.
While Cincinnati is known as the Rally Reds for their 40 come-from-behind wins, Arizona is known as the Rallybacks for their 32 comeback wins.
And they won this battle.
Young walked Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to open the eighth. With one out, Carroll, who hadn’t homered in more than a month, crashed his 23rd to push Arizona in front, 3-2.
Did the Reds have another comeback in them? They tried in the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald, forcing him to make 28 pitches.
Elly De La Cruz led the ninth by fouling off seven pitches before he took a called strike three on the 10th pitch.
Spencer Steer walked and represented the tying run. But Senzel flied to left and Encarnacion-Strand struck out for the fourth time and is 1-for-15.
Arizona collected 10 hits, nine singles and Carroll’s home run. The Reds managed only three hits as their three-game winning streak ended. Arizona has won 10 of its last 12.
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