PHOENIX (AP) — Midway through Saturday night’s game against the New York Mets, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo wondered what had happened to his team.
Mired in a nearly monthlong slump, the Diamondbacks were lethargic, seemingly on their way to yet another loss.
To not only pull out that victory, but win the series with the Dodgers coming to town was just what the Diamondbacks needed to get going back in the right direction.
Merrill Kelly struck out a career-high 10, Ketel Marte hit a long homer and had three RBIs, and the Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 7-1 on Sunday.
“In the fifth inning yesterday, I was under the bench sucking my thumb. I didn’t know what to do,” Lovullo said. “I was like, ‘Where are we going, what are we doing, we’re not playing our type of baseball.’ It was really frustrating. It’s a perfect example of not shutting down and I’m proud of these guys.”
Lingering around the NL West lead heading into May, the Diamondbacks went into a funk. They had one five-game losing streak and were looking at a potential six-game slide after falling behind the Mets on Saturday night.
Arizona rallied to win that game 6-5 in 11 innings and kept the momentum going Sunday with a strong all-around game.
Marte got it started, hitting his first career leadoff home run against Steven Matz (4-4), a 482-foot shot that matched Texas’ Nomar Mazara for longest in the majors this season. He added a two-run single in the eighth.
Eduardo Escobar also hit a two-run shot in the first inning and Kelly (5-6) held the struggling Mets to six hits in 7 2/3 innings.
“I know we had a long week where we didn’t win, but we never give up,” Marte said.
Wilson Ramos homered and Amed Rosario had three hits for New York. Matz was the only other player with a hit for the Mets, who lost for the 17th time in their last 21 road games.
“Overall game, bad defense, bad pitching, no offense,” New York manager Mickey Callaway said. “You are going to lose when you have those.”
Kelly was sharp after allowing four earned runs each of his past two starts.
The right-hander gave up Ramos’ solo homer in the second inning, but had the Mets swinging through his big-breaking curveball most of the day.
Kelly asked the trainer to come out after feeling nauseous warming up in the sixth inning, but stayed in the game. He was lifted after Rosario beat shortstop Nick Ahmed’s throw for his third single.
“I felt like I was going to have a special day as we got later in the game,” Kelly said.
New York lost five of seven on its trip and dropped to 28-31. The Mets have not been above .500 since before play on May 1.
“We can’t allow people to have their best games of their career against us,” Callaway said.
Matz allowed two earned runs or less in his previous three straight starts.
He gave up more than that in the first inning against the Diamondbacks.
Marte led off with a homer that landed on the concourse in left-center for the sixth-longest in Chase Field history. Escobar lifted his two-run shot just over the left field wall into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen to put Arizona up 3-0.
Arizona scored two more runs off Matz in the fifth inning on four straight two-out singles to go up 5-1.
The left-hander allowed five runs and eight hits and struck out five in six innings.
“It’s tough when you’re on your heels in the first inning,” Matz said. “You really have to grind to come back. I was able to go six and so that is the only positive I can take out of that.”
Nationals 4, Reds 1
CINCINNATI — Max Scherzer struck out a season high 15, allowing three hits over eight innings to lead the Washington Nationals over Cincinnati, their 12th win in 14 games against the Reds.
When manager Dave Martinez visited the mound with a runner on second and two outs in the ninth, Scherzer told him emphatically to keep him in the game. Scherzer then fanned Joey Votto on three straight called strikes.
Scherzer (3-5) reached double figures in strikeouts for the fourth time in 13 starts this season and 86th time in his career,
Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save as Washington won for the seventh time in nine games.
Sonny Gray (2-5) gave up two runs and five hits in five innings.
Anthony Rendon had three hits, including an RBI single in the first, and raised his average to .331.
Brewers 4, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH — Zach Davies (6-0) allowed eight hits over eight-plus innings, struck out three and walked one.
Corbin Burnes inherited a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth but wiggled free for his first save this season and second of his big career.
Eric Thames hit a two-run homer and an RBI double for Milwaukee.
Jordan Lyles (5-3) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings.
Dodgers 8, Phillies 0
LOS ANGELES — Rich Hill (2-1) struck out nine and scattered three hits over seven innings, and West-leading Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of East-leading Philadelphia.
Joc Pederson homered to cap a seven-run eighth inning. The Dodgers extended their winning streak to five with their seventh series sweep. Philadelphia has lost four in a row for the first time this season.
David Freese homered for the second straight game, connecting in the seventh against Vince Velasquez (2-3).
Cardinals 2, Cubs 1
ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright (5-5) overcame a career-high seven walks to pitch eight shutout innings and beat Cole Hamels (4-2) as St. Louis completed a three-game sweep.
The Cardinals got just four hits in their fourth straight win. Chicago was limited to three hits, and lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Wainwright didn’t allow a hit until Kris Bryant singled with one out in the sixth. He gave up two hits and struck out eight.
Hamels gave up one unearned run and two hits over seven innings.
Kolten Wong hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter added a two-out, RBI single off Mike Montgomery in the eighth.
Addison Russell hit an RBI grounder in the ninth off John Gant, who got his third save when David Bote grounded out.
Marlins 9, Padres 3
SAN DIEGO — Jorge Alfaro homered, doubled and drove in a career-high four runs for the Miami Marlins, who beat the Padres in a game delayed 28 minutes after a swarm of bees settled on a microphone on the netting near the home dugout.
Trevor Richards (3-5) held San Diego to one hit in five scoreless innings while striking out eight for the Marlins, who won two of three. Miami outscored San Diego 18-6 in the final two games.
With the Padres trailing 9-1, they had rookie third baseman Ty France pitch the ninth and he allowed just a single. Austin Hedges, who got the day off from catching, played third.
Hunter Renfroe homered twice for San Diego and drove in three runs.
Alfaro hit a two-run homer with two outs in the second, his ninth, off left-hander Matt Strahm (2-5). He added a two-run double in the fourth. Garrett Cooper hit a solo homer with two outs in the third.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Twins 9, Rays 7
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jake Odorizzi (8-2) won his eighth straight decision, allowing three hits and striking out nine in six scoreless innings to lower his AL-best ERA to 1.96.
Minnesota, a big league-best 40-18, won three in a row after losing the series opener 14-3.
C.J. Cron had a three-run double during a four-run fifth off Ryan Yarbrough (4-2), helping the Twins open a 7-0 lead.
Taylor Rogers struck out the side for his fifth save.
Astros 6, Athletics 4,
12 innings
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rookie Myles Straw had three hits, three stolen bases and scored the go-ahead run on Michael Brantley’s single in the 12th to help the Houston Astros complete their second three-game sweep of the season against the Athletics.
Yuli Gurriel added a single in the 12th for his second RBI of the game to give the Astros their sixth sweep in their last nine series in Oakland. Houston also swept the A’s at home in a three-game series in April.
The A’s were held to seven runs in the series with all the scoring coming on six homers, including shots Sunday by Robbie Grossman, Jurickson Profar, Ramon Laureano and Matt Chapman. They have lost five straight following a 10-game winning streak and now trail Houston by a season-high 10 1/2 games in the AL West. Three of those recent losses have been with Lou Trivino (2-3) in relief.
Josh James (3-0) pitched two perfect innings for the win.
White Sox 2, Indians 0
CHICAGO — Lucas Giolito (8-1) tossed five-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings to win his sixth straight start. He struck out nine and walked none while extending his scoreless streak to 14 1/3 innings.
Aaron Bummer got two outs in the eighth and Alex Colome finished for his 12th save
Tim Anderson homered leading off the fourth against Zach Plesac (0-1) and hit an RBI double in the eighth against A.J. Cole.
Rangers 5, Royals 1
ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Sampson (4-3) struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings, allowing one run and eight hits as he earned his first major league win as a starter.
Brad Keller (3-7) gave up three runs in seven innings. Kansas City ended a 1-6 trip that left the Royals a major league-worst 8-23 on the road this season.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the third on three opposite-field singles and added two runs in the fifth, the second on an opposite-field single by Nomar Mazara.
Angels 13, Mariners 3
SEATTLE — Albert Pujols hit his 643rd homer, his 11th this year, and drove in five runs,
Called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday night, Juan Suarez (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings to win his big league debut. The 21-year-old lefty became the youngest pitcher to start for the Angels since Tyler Chatwood in 2011.
Luis Rengifo hit his first career home run, a solo drive in the Angels sixth that landed above the Hit It Here Cafe in left field.
Marco Gonzales (5-6) was tagged for 10 runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.
He is 0-6 with a 7.79 ERA in his last seven starts.
INTERLEAGUE
Giants 8, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE — Brandon Crawford had his first multihomer game since August 2015, and Evan Longoria had a solo shot that stopped an 0-for-21 skid.
Bruce Bochy needs one win to join John McGraw as the only managers in Giants history with 1,000.
Jeff Samardzija (3-4) allowed three hits and struck out six over six innings.
Gabriel Ynoa (0-2) gave up four runs — two earned — and five hits in five innings for the Orioles, a big league-worst 18-41.
Trey Mancini homered for Baltimore, which managed only four hits.
Braves 7, Tigers 4
ATLANTA — Dansby Swanson homered, drove in three runs and scored the tiebreaker on Freddie Freeman’s double off Joe Jiminez (2-3) in the eighth.
Touki Toussaint (3-0) got one out in the eighth.
Atlanta took two of three from the Tigers for its first home interleague series win since also winning two of three against Detroit in 2016.
Atlanta was 0-5-3 in its last eight home series against American League teams.
