Good, Bad and Ugly From Diamondbacks' Gritty Series Win vs Guardians

The Arizona Diamondbacks, somehow, came away with a gritty series win over the Cleveland Guardians, taking two of three to improve to 62-66.

For as doomed as the season may have felt after a rough series loss to the Colorado Rockies, Arizona's offense clearly has not given up.

There is still fight in this club, no matter how far out of the playoff race they may be.

Below is the good, bad and ugly from two comeback victories over a tough pitching Guardians team.

Diamondbacks vs Guardians: The Good

Corbin Carroll Sets Diamondbacks Record

Perhaps the most noteworthy occurrence in the series happened Tuesday night. Star outfielder Corbin Carroll recorded his 15th and 16th triples of the season, setting the D-backs' single season record en route to Arizona's first comeback win of the series.

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Carroll is now hitting .253/.328/.556 on the season, with a career-high 27 homers and 16 triples... and counting.

Diamondbacks Play Tough, Come Back Twice

The Diamondbacks' former identity was that of a chaotic club that was never out of any game, regardless of how secure their opponents' lead may be. That hasn't been the case this season, but it certainly was in this series.

The D-backs came back from down 2-1 and 4-2 to tie the game and take an eventual lead in game two. They turned a ninth-inning 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 walk-off victory to claim the series in game three.

It may not be as flashy as years past, nor as significant to a team well out of the playoff race, but it's certainly refreshing to see Arizona win a tough-fought series (against a tough pitching staff) the way they did.

Diamondbacks' Bullpen Rebounds

After a dismal series in Colorado, the Diamondbacks' bullpen did its job quite well over the past three games.

Arizona got excellent length from their starting pitchers, as each rotation arm threw at least six innings, but the bullpen put forward 8.1 innings of quality work, allowing just a single earned run.

Andrew Saalfrank recorded his second save of the season Tuesday, then held the ghost runner at second base in game three. John Curtiss threw 3.1 scoreless innings without giving up a base hit.

Diamondbacks vs Guardians: The Bad

Diamondbacks Still Struggling With RISP

The D-backs, despite the comeback wins, struggled to put together at-bats with runners in scoring position. Across games one and two, they went just 3-for-16 (.187) in that situation.

Game three was a much better 3-for-6, with the final of the three being the walk-off knock. Though that final game raised the D-backs' RISP average to .273 for the series, Arizona still had a difficult time coming through with the big knock for the majority of the series.

Diamondbacks' Starters Still Homer-Prone

The D-backs' starting pitchers did well overall. Zac Gallen recorded a six-inning Quality Start, Eduardo Rodriguez went 6.2 innings and pitched better than his line, and Brandon Pfaadt threw seven innings of two-run baseball.

But if not for some offensive heroics, the long ball would have sunk the D-backs in each of the first two contests.

Gallen gave up two homers in the game, accounting for all three of the Guardians' runs in a 3-1 loss. Rodriguez was cruising with a 2-2 tie game, then surrendered a two-run shot to Jose Ramirez on a changeup in the zone.

Pfaadt was the only starter not to give up a homer. Arizona's starters got the job done for the most part and kept the D-backs in each game, but the large nagging issue persists.

Diamondbacks vs Guardians: The Ugly

Diamondbacks' Third Base Coaching Error

It's unfortunate that it came to this, but Diamondbacks' first-time third base coach Shaun Larkin was removed from third base duties after another mistake.

It's been a theme all season. Larkin has held runners who may have scored and sent runners who had no chance.

The position is difficult, taxing and unforgiving, but an ill-advised send of Alek Thomas in game three was very nearly a key contributor to a loss, if not for the late comeback.

Thomas was thrown out at home with no outs on a double by James McCann, and Arizona was held scoreless in an inning that looked promising.

That led Lovullo to make a tough decision, and the D-backs are now in search of a new third base coach.

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