PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks scored in the first inning for the sixth game in a row Sunday, the longest such streak in the majors this season. They later set a franchise record with nine consecutive hits.
Arizona's nine hits in a row — all with two outs — came when scoring eight runs in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies while completing a three-game series sweep with a 13-6 win.
“This three-game set here, I couldn’t be more proud of the way the guys went out there and had a really good elite offensive approach. They were unpredictable. We had hits in all directions,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was just a good Sunday day game to do what we did. We’ve got to get on the road and keep going, playing good baseball.”
Adrian Del Castillo's three-run homer, his first of the season, put the Diamondbacks up 3-0 in the first inning.
That long ball also extended Arizona’s streak to seven games in a row of scoring multiple runs within the first three innings of a game. That matches NL East-leading Philadelphia for the longest in the majors this season.
Then in the fifth, the Diamondbacks had two quick outs before every batter in their lineup had a hit in succession. They loaded the bases before Alek Thomas had an RBI single. James McCann followed with a two-run single and Blaze Alexander added another RBI single before the Rockies pulled starting pitcher Tanner Gordon.
“That was awesome, especially with two outs, passing the baton to the next guy,” Del Castillo, who had the second of the nine consecutive hits and was on deck when the inning ended, said on Arizona's broadcast after the game. “We were obviously stoked. ... It kept going.”
Corbin Carroll greeted reliever Ryan Rolison with an RBI single. Ketel Marte, whose flyout opened the inning, then had a two-run double and Geraldo Perdomo, after his pop-out earlier in the inning, had an RBI single to make it 12-3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who had the first single in the outburst, grounded out to end the inning.
Several teams this season had four-game streaks of scoring in the first inning. The Diamondbacks exceeded that Saturday night when Gurriel had an RBI single in the first inning. They then won 6-5 over the Rockies on Gurriel's RBI double in the ninth.
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