Marte homers and Cecconi pitches 6 innings to lead Diamondbacks past Nationals 5-0 in series opener

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ketel Marte homered, Slade Cecconi pitched six sharp innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Washington Nationals 5-0 in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday night.

Corbin Carroll reached base four times and scored twice for Arizona, which has won six of eight to improve to 36-37. The defending NL champion Diamondbacks have not been this close to .500 since they were 12-13 on April 23.

CJ Abrams extended his hitting streak to 11 games for Washington, which was limited to four hits and had its three-game winning streak snapped.

The Diamondbacks quickly went ahead against Jake Irvin (5-6) when Carroll led off the game with a walk and promptly stole second. Marte then drove a 2-2 curveball to right-center for his 15th home run.

Arizona tacked on two more in the fifth inning when Geraldo Perdomo doubled and scored on Carroll’s triple to left-center. Carroll came around on Marte’s sacrifice fly.

Carroll also walked in the third and singled in the ninth. Last season's NL Rookie of the Year exited Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox in the seventh inning after making an awkward throw from the outfield.

Irvin was in trouble throughout his outing, allowing the leadoff batter to reach base in all five innings. But he limited the damage to four runs in part because the Diamondbacks hit into four inning-ending double plays.

That support was still plenty for Cecconi (2-5), who earned his first victory since April 21 and completed six innings for the first time since April 27. He retired the first nine batters he faced and yielded three hits and no walks while striking out six.

Jesse Winker, stranded after a two-out double in the fourth, was the only Nationals batter to reach scoring position.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: Winker (right knee) returned to the lineup after a one-game absence. … RHP Josiah Gray (forearm flexor strain) will pitch Wednesday for Double-A Harrisburg. Manager Dave Martinez said Gray will throw around 75-80 pitches. … RHP Cade Cavalli (Tommy John surgery) threw a bullpen. He is scheduled to make a rehab appearance Friday at Class A Wilmington.

UP NEXT

Arizona RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-5, 4.38 ERA) faces Washington for the first time Wednesday, while the Nationals counter with former Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (1-7, 5.84).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb