D-backs homer 3 times off Guardians ace Shane Bieber, win series

The Arizona Diamondbacks took Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber deep three times as they rallied from down 2-0 to win 6-3 on Saturday at Chase Field.

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, D-backs (43-28) first baseman Christian Walker hit a two-run home run to right field off of the Guardians (32-38) No. 1 to tie the game.

In the eighth inning, with Bieber still in the game due to a relatively low pitch count, Arizona right fielder Jake McCarthy poked a home run just over the right field fence in front of the pool. This proved to be the game-tying hit.

“Tie game and Bieber pitched really well today. Think it was still a pretty good pitch 2-2 but it was nice to take advantage of a mistake I guess,” McCarthy told reporters postgame.

The Bieber was left in the game to face the scorching-hot Corbin Carroll, who has entered the National League Most Valuable Player race, with his pitch count approaching 100.

Bieber was kept in despite giving up the home run to McCarthy, recording just one out in the inning and allowing a single to Ketel Marte. Bieber had obviously lost what had kept him in the game so long and with the lefty Carroll coming to the plate to face the right-hander, the decision was especially puzzling.

Carroll hit a no-doubt, two-run blast to right field which put the D-backs up 5-2 and ended up being the game-winning hit.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo spoke on the last month the young outfielder has had, hitting .342 and slugging .730 in his last 30 games.

“It’s been a lot of fun from where I’m sitting,” Lovullo said. “I’ll tell you that. And he just continues to impress me. And he does it with unbelievable focus and determination.”

After Bieber was pulled from the game, Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. broke out of a slump with a solo home run, the D-backs’ third long ball of the inning. The smash into Arizona’s bullpen provided insurance for a D-backs team with a history of shaky ninth innings.

Arizona starting pitcher Tommy Henry did not have an elite day on the mound but did just enough to keep the D-backs in the game.

After a rocky first inning where he walked in his first earned run, he allowed just one more run the rest of his night. He made it through six innings, allowing just the two runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out three.

“Not the greatest, but again I’ve said it before, with this offense, you just got to kind of hang around as a starting pitcher,” Henry said.

“Do what you can to get outs, kind of wait for things to click for you and just give the offense a chance to do their thing. And more often than not, we’re going to come out on the winning side and today was another example of that.”

Next Up

Arizona will try to sweep Cleveland on Sunday with righty Zach Davies (1-2, 5.46 ERA) on the mound against Guardians righty Tanner Bibee (2-2, 3.91 ERA). The game is set to start at 1:10 p.m. and can be heard on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 and ArizonaSports.com.