DENVER - One misplayed liner, then Corbin Carroll made Coors Field pay.
Ketel Marte reached second when Colorado left fielder Zac Veen mishandled his one-out liner in the first Wednesday night. Gabriel Moreno singled home the opening run two pitches later. Nolan Arenado punched an RBI single, and Carroll ripped a two-run triple that finished a four-run frame.
The Arizona Diamondbacks held on for a 5-3 win over the Rockies. The Associated Press credited Carroll with triple No. 17, tops in the majors this season. ESPN's box lists him 1-for-4 with two RBI on that drive.
Arizona (84-74) moved three games behind Philadelphia and Chicago in the NL wild-card standings with four games left, the AP reported. Moreno finished with three hits and is batting .310, two points behind the Phillies' Luis Arraez in the NL batting race.
Unearned, then locked in
Every run in that first inning off rookie Mason Adams (0-2) was unearned. Adams then retired 13 batters in a row before Moreno led off the sixth with a single. The right-hander worked six innings, allowed five hits, struck out eight, and walked none - the first time he reached eight punchouts in six starts, per the AP.
Colorado has surrendered 131 first-inning runs, an MLB high this year.
Merrill Kelly (10-14) covered 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. He entered Wednesday 6-0 across nine Coors Field starts dating to 2022. Justin Martinez and Juan Morillo each recorded outs in the middle relief mix.
Colorado chipped away: Amador doubled home a run in the second, and Goodman's sac fly in the third narrowed it to 4-2.
Eighth-inning trade, ninth-inning finish
Tim Tawa homered leading off the eighth against Mark Manfredi, his 11th of the year, for a 5-2 cushion. Ezequiel Tovar answered with his 12th homer off Brandyn Garcia. Tovar finished with two hits and two runs for Colorado. Jonathan Loaisiga earned his second save when Tovar lifted a foul that Ildemaro Vargas snared near the railing with the tying run in scoring position.
