Arizona Diamondbacks pound San Diego Padres, climb back to .500 on season

SAN DIEGO — The Diamondbacks’ West Coast swing began last week with their general manager stating plainly that he needed his team to play better to warrant him being a buyer at the upcoming trade deadline. Consider the past six games a step in the right direction.

The Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 9-1, on Sunday afternoon, securing their second series victory in as many tries on a road trip that started last week at Dodger Stadium.

“Really big,” Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez said. “Winning four out of six in LA and here, tough places and tough teams, it’s awesome for us. That’s all we want. We came here to win games. We put everything together.”

On Sunday, Suarez’s two-run home run snapped a 1-1 tie in the seventh and his bases-clearing double in the ninth blew the game open. For a player who has struggled to get going at the plate — and whose roster spot appeared to be in question over the past few weeks — the afternoon goes down as his most productive game of the season.

“I want to keep humble, keep doing what I’ve been doing and work hard every day,” Suarez said. “No matter what the results are, I know what I can do. I’ll just keep believing in myself, keep believing in what I can do and keep going.”

Said manager Torey Lovullo: “The at-bats have been a little bit more consistent. In the last 25-30 at-bats, there have been a lot of walks, there have been some productive at-bats with base hits. We’ve seen it coming. But this day was clearly the best he’s had this year so far. Hopefully this gets him pushed in the right direction.”

Right-hander Ryne Nelson turned in his fifth strong performance in his past seven outings, giving up just one run in 6⅔ innings. He cited his ability to effectively mix his fastball and cutter, plus the fact that he was ahead in counts for much of the afternoon.

The Diamondbacks went 4-2 on the trip but had a chance to go 6-0. They twice handed leads to closer Paul Sewald only to first watch the Dodgers then the Padres rally in the ninth.

With 12 more hits on Sunday, the Diamondbacks registered at least nine hits in all six games on the trip, the first such six-game stretch this year.

“Great road trip,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “Really, really good. Love the way we competed from top to bottom. The offense, the defense, the pitchers, everybody. Two tough environments, two tough teams, and we fought hard. I think that’s something that helps the momentum for sure.”

The Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll launched a solo home run off Padres right-hander Dylan Cease on the fourth pitch of the game, a shot that snapped a homerless drought of 225 plate appearances. It was his third homer of the season. Jurickson Profar’s solo shot off Nelson in the bottom of the inning tied the game at 1.

That is where the score remained until Suarez connected off Cease in the seventh, a shot that came after Geraldo Perdomo worked a two-out walk.

At 45-45, the Diamondbacks are back to .500 for the second time in the past few weeks. They remain on the outside of the wild-card picture, two games out of a playoff spot. But in a pair of series that could have easily tripped them up, they instead might have found momentum. They will see if they can hold onto it this week, when the Atlanta Braves visit Chase Field for a four-game series that begins on Monday night.

“We’ve got to continue doing it,” Suarez said. “We’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow at home. We’ll keep going. That’s all that matters.”

Monday’s Diamondbacks-Braves pitching matchup

Braves at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Yilber Diaz (1-3, 3.27)* vs. Braves LHP Chris Sale (11-3, 2.71).

At Chase Field: Diaz, 23, will be making his major league debut. … Born in Venezuela, he signed as an amateur free agent for $10,000 in 2021 at the age of 20. … He has risen quickly through the Diamondbacks’ system thanks to his mid-to-upper 90s fastball and swing-and-miss slider. … He was dominant in his most recent for Triple-A Reno, firing six no-hit innings with two walks and 13 strikeouts. … Sale is enjoying his best and healthiest season in a long time. Through 16 starts, he has logged 99⅔ innings with only 19 walks and 127 strikeouts. … He faced the Diamondbacks in April, giving up two runs in 5⅓ innings in a no-decision. … Sale is holding opposing hitters to a .164 average and .233 slugging against his slider, a pitch that elicits whiffs on 41.8% of swings.

Coming up

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (6-4, 3.06) vs. Braves RHP Charlie Morton (5-5, 3.96).

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Slade Cecconi (2-6, 6.10) vs. Braves LHP Max Fried (7-4, 3.18).

Thursday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-6, 4.19) vs. Braves RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (2-4, 5.02).

What to know about the Atlanta Braves

With Sunday’s win, the Braves took two of three over the weekend from the Phillies, the team they’re chasing in the National League East. Even with the series victory, they remain eight games back, more than many would have expected given the talent on the Braves roster to start the year. However, they have been hit hard by injuries, namely to RF Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) and RHP Spencer Strider (elbow), and have several position players in the midst of down years — down for them, at least — including 1B Matt Olson (.747 OPS, 13 homers) and 3B Austin Riley (.767 OPS, 11 homers). DH Marcell Ozuna is having a huge year, with a .943 OPS, 23 homers and 72 RBIs, and OF Jarred Kelenic, acquired from Seattle in a December trade, is acclimating well with his new team, hitting .272 with nine homers. LHP Chris Sale (2.71 ERA) is having a resurgent year. RHP Reynaldo Lopez (1.83 ERA) has been terrific in his first year back in the rotation. LHP Max Fried (3.18 ERA) has bounced back from a shaky first few weeks of the season.