Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte each hit two-run homers as the surging Arizona Diamondbacks beat the host Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in the opener of Wednesday’s doubleheader.
Eugenio Suarez added a run-scoring double for the Diamondbacks, who have won the first two of this three-game set and 11 of their last 13.
Starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (6-6) retired the first 12 batters before Josh Naylor homered in the fifth. He gave up two runs while striking out six in 6 1/3. He gave up four hits and walked one.
Guardians starter Ben Lively (10-7) allowed two homers among four hits and walked four in five innings for the AL Central-leading Guardians, who have lost a season-high four straight and just their third series at home.
Arizona stranded two runners in the first inning but came through in the second. After Lively issued a one-out walk to Alek Thomas, Perdomo cleared the right-field wall for his first home run since Aug. 13 of last season.
The Diamondbacks went up 4-0 in the fifth. Ninth place hitter Jose Herrera opened the frame with a walk and scored when Carroll lofted a 1-1 offspeed pitch into the right-field seats.
Cleveland finally got to Pfaadt during its half of the fifth when Naylor led off with his 25th homer that just cleared the right-field wall. Andres Gimenez and Daniel Schneemann delivered back-to-back one-out singles and Brayan Rocchio’s double into the right-field corner made it 4-2.
That Guardians’ rally ended when Schneemann was thrown out at the plate by Carroll on Bo Naylor’s fly ball to right.
Arizona added some insurance in the eighth via Suarez’s two-out RBI double off the 19-foot-high wall in left. The run proved helpful after Jose Ramirez lined a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the frame to get Cleveland within two runs.
However, with a man on in the ninth, Marte found the left-field seats for his 10th homer in 14 games and 29th overall.
Arizona is 23-9 since June 29.
–Field Level Media
