Diamondbacks hold strong and avoid sweep against Angels on Sunday

What began as a quiet afternoon at the plate quickly turned in favor of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and was a costly unraveling for the Los Angeles Angels. Fueled by a four-run fourth inning, Arizona cruised to a win Sunday to stop its three-game losing streak. Merrill Kelly pitched five innings and only allowed one earned run on one hit while striking out six.

The turning point came when Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada botched a routine grounder, opening the door for Arizona to pounce. Eugenio Suárez tied the game with a sharp ground ball, and Blaze Alexander followed with a ringing RBI double. Moments later, catcher José Herrera flared a double into right field, scoring two more runs and giving the D-Backs a 4-1 lead.

Suárez added an RBI double in the fifth to stretch the lead for Arizona to 5-1. The D-Backs bullpen got the job done as John Curtiss, Kevin Ginkel, and Kendall Graveman combined for four scoreless innings and only allowed two hits, locking it down without drama.

Arizona heads into the All-Star break with a much-needed win. After a frustrating stretch, the D-Backs reminded everyone they can still play clean, opportunistic baseball.