Corbin Carroll homers vs. Rockies, Diamondbacks snap skid for Torey Lovullo's 500th win

DENVER — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo smelled of beer, his uniform soaked. He needed a little longer than he would have liked to secure the 500th victory of his career, but it didn’t stop anyone in the visitors’ clubhouse from giving him the standard milestone celebration.

In a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks checked a lot of boxes. They stopped a five-game losing skid, winning for the first time on this road trip and putting themselves in position to win a series on Wednesday.

They got help from a variety of sources — outfielder Corbin Carroll, catcher Gabriel Moreno, the bullpen — that had been struggling to contribute in recent days.

And then there was Lovullo, who had been stuck on 499 wins for a week. Three years ago, Lovullo was captaining a club that was en route to 110 losses. It was the kind of season that costs most managers their jobs — and the fact that he kept his cool through it all was at the front of his mind as he spoke to reporters after the game.

“I was thinking about that a few minutes ago,” Lovullo said, when asked what 500 wins means to him. “It means that I’ve had some incredible backing. I’ve had some people who have really stood by me, in good time and bad. And I’m honored for that.”

It seemed apropos that right-hander Merrill Kelly, the longest-tenured member of the pitching staff, was the one who picked up the win, working six innings of two-run ball. Six years ago, Kelly was a rookie struggling in his first go-round in the majors. Lovullo considered bumping him from the rotation. He stuck with him, and Kelly has developed into one of the league’s better starters.

In the clubhouse after the game, Kelly stood in front of the team and congratulated Lovullo on the milestone.

“It seemed right that Merrill got the win today,” Lovullo said. “He’s been here for a long time. He said some nice things that I’ll never forget.”

Said Kelly: “Even through the dark days of ‘21, he’s always behind us, always supporting us. He’s never putting blame on anybody in this clubhouse. He’s always taking the blame.”

Said first baseman Christian Walker: “Torey is so consistent. The way he communicates. The way he navigates the good, the bad, all of it in a season, it makes what we do a whole lot easier. Happy to be a part of it. Happy for him.”

Carroll, who entered this series hitting .200 through his first 42 plate appearances, lined the second pitch of the game into the left-field seats for his first home run of the year. He has reached base twice in each of the first two games of the series, and while he does not quite look locked in yet, he at least has more positives on which to build.

“It’s a matter of time for him,” Lovullo said. “I know it’s been grinding, but he’s still managing to squeak out base hits, find his way on base, make plays defensively. Something like this was inevitable. He’s just too good of a player. He’s going to be just fine.”

Moreno collected four hits — two doubles and two singles — and threw out a pair of would-be base stealers, outs that helped Kelly get out of the fifth and sixth innings.

“That guy is going to be throwing people out for the next 15 years,” Kelly said. “I think that’s something in the box score that doesn’t really get highlighted maybe as much as it should. I think he threw two people out tonight. Those are two big outs right there.”

And relievers Ryan Thompson (1-1/3 innings), Kyle Nelson (two-thirds of an inning) and Kevin Ginkel (one inning) turned in scoreless appearances to finish off the win, an encouraging performance from a bullpen that had coughed up leads in three of the first four games on this trip.

“They’re frustrated,” Lovullo said of the bullpen. “They’ve been challenged a little bit. I know they wanted to rise to this occasion. It’s a very tough and resilient group that will stand up and get big outs like we did today.”

Ketel Marte, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. get Coors Field off days

DENVER — Second baseman Ketel Marte and left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were absent from the Diamondbacks lineup on Tuesday, a decision Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said was aimed at keeping players healthy during and beyond this series at Coors Field.

“Getting guys off their feet here is a top priority for me,” Lovullo said. “Giving ourselves a chance to win the game is very, very important, but we’ve had some bad injuries here – with Ketel Marte a couple of times – and you’ve got to be careful.”

This line of thinking is nothing new for Lovullo or the Diamondbacks, who for years have tried to get players days off during a series at the high altitude in Colorado – and often before and/or after, as well.

That seems to be of particular importance when it comes to Marte, who has said before he has had three instances in his career in which he has dealt with hamstring issues in Denver.

Lovullo had infielder Jace Peterson at second base and Jake McCarthy in left field.

Updates on Geraldo Perdomo, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery

DENVER — Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo underwent successful surgery to repair a tear in his right meniscus on Monday, manager Torey Lovullo said.

The surgery was performed by team physician Dr. Amon Ferry.

Meanwhile, left-hander Jordan Montgomery gave up two runs in four innings in his first minor league start on Sunday with Triple-A Reno. He walked three and struck out three, averaging 91-92 mph with his fastball.

Lovullo said Montgomery will pitch again for Reno on Saturday. Montgomery said on the day his one-year, $25 million deal with the Diamondbacks was announced that he expects to make his season debut on April 19.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez threw another bullpen session, his second time getting off the mound since going down with a shoulder injury in spring training. Lovullo said it is possible Rodriguez’s next step will involve facing hitters.

DBacks send Merrill Kelly to mound vs. Rockies

DENVER — Looking to stop a five-game losing streak, the Diamondbacks send right-hander Merrill Kelly to the mound against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Kelly has turned in strong performances in each of his two starts this year, giving up one run in 6⅔ innings against the Rockies in the second game of the season and two runs in seven innings against the Yankees five days later.

Like most pitchers, Kelly’s career results haven’t been as strong at Coors Field, where he owns a 4.91 ERA in six career starts, but he has thrown well in Denver the past couple of seasons, allowing four earned runs in 19 innings (1.89 ERA) in three starts.

He will be facing Rockies right-hander Cal Quantrill, who was hit hard by the Diamondbacks at Chase Field (five innings, five runs) and was not sharp against the Cubs, either, giving up four runs in four innings.

He has allowed 19 runs in 26 career innings against the Diamondbacks.

Quantrill averages 92.7 mph with his fastball. He also throws four other pitches: splitter, cutter, curveball and change-up.

Wednesday's DBacks-Rockies pitching matchup

DBacks at Rockies, 12:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry (0-1, 7.00) vs. Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-0, 6.23).

At Coors Field: Henry gave up two runs in five innings on Friday in Atlanta, working his way out of trouble in each of his final two innings. … Henry elicited 14 swinging strikes and finished with five strikeouts. Four of the whiffs came on his slider. … Henry will be facing the Rockies for the second time already this season. He was hit around by them on March 30, giving up five runs in four innings. In four career starts against Colorado, he has a 4.98 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. … Gomber matched up with Henry in that March 30 game and did not pitch much better, giving up four runs in 4 2/3 innings in a game the Rockies would go on to win, 9-4. … Gomber was a little better when he faced the Rays last week, allowing two runs in four innings. … A part of the deal that sent 3B Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals, Gomber has posted a 5.25 ERA in 85 career outings for the Rockies.

Coming up

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-0, 5.06) vs. Cardinals LHP Steven Matz (1-0, 1.74).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (0-2, 8.22) vs. Cardinals RHP Kyle Gibson (1-1, 6.23).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (2-0, 2.25) vs. Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (1-1, 4.76).