Welcome Back! Dbacks: 6 Reds: 2

The Dbacks got a mix of news before todays late afternoon game. On the positive side, the team welcomed back Paul Sewald and the stabilizing energy he provides to the bullpen! On the negative side, apparently Alek Thomas felt ‘discomfort’ in his previously injured hamstring after Sundays game and will be headed back to Phoenix for evaluation. This news coming just a few weeks after Torey and co openly discussed regrets in Eduardo Rodriguez’s return and potentially rushing him back before more imaging was done. I digress...

Getting back to todays game and all of the positives that came from it! On the offensive side, the Dbacks got on the board first in the 3rd when Jake McCarthy scored when Corbin Carroll put the ball in play and grounded into a force out. Carroll then plated the second run of the game in the top of the 5th inning when he hit a ball through the infield scoring Tucker Barnhardt. If you are starting to notice the trend where Carroll is at the center of all of the scoring, you are correct! In the top of the 7th inning Carroll homered with 2 runners on putting the Dbacks up by a score of 5-0. Ketel Marte followed with a back to back home run, his 7th of the season.

On the pitching front, Zac Gallen also came back from his own injury scare with authority going 6 innings of 1 hit ball allowing no runs and striking out 6 Reds batters. Lovullo chose to pull Gallen after 6 innings and only 79 pitches to give way to the bullpen. Jarvis came in and allowed a solo home run to Jonathan India, and Joe Mantiply tossed a scoreless 8th inning. Paul Sewald made his triumphant comeback and season debut in the 9th inning of a 6-1 ballgame. Sewald sustained a low grade 2 oblique strain near the end of spring training and was a welcome sight to see back in a Dbacks uniform and on the mound again. It seemed to be a debut more of the soft landing variety as it was clearly not a save situation. And maybe it was a good thing it was as Sewald allowed a solo home run to Tyler Stephenson bringing us to the final score of 6-2. I am all for Paul Sewald getting those home runs out of his system in games with bigger leads!

I’ll leave this to AZ Snake Pit Nation, who had the biggest welcome back party today? Corbin Carroll with his home run and his 5 RBI? Zac Gallen coming back strong with 6 scoreless innings following the hamstring scare? Or seeing Paul Sewald back on the mound in the 9th?

With so many great welcome back narratives from this game, I am excited to see the discussion and the explanations! For me, this is tough because all 3 of these guys are so big for this team, but probably Corbin Carroll getting bumped back up to the leadoff spot and responding in a big way with a 5 RBI game! If Carroll finally is back, what a boost to an offense that has frankly been struggling with his absence. Close second for me is Sewald. I could honestly care less he allowed the home run, I was just holding my breath he made it throught the outing with the adrenaline flowing without re aggrevating his oblique. I will still likely be holding my breath until I hear how he recovers tomorrow. What a refreshing game to start the week after the week we had last week!

Cheers!