Soroka’s Masterclass Nearly Overshadowed as Diamondbacks’ Bullpen Falters in Nail-Biting Win Over Tigers

Of course, we all expected Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka to be our most effective starting pitchers, the first time through the rotation, didn’t we? On the other side, we were facing Justin Verlander, a triple Cy Young winner. And we had to do so without Pavin Smith: he homered three times off Verlander in 2024, but went on the IL earlier today. We needn’t have worried. Father Time remains undefeated, and 43-year-old Verlander is a shadow of the nine-time All-Star. He was hit and hit hard by Arizona from the very start. Ketel Marte had a 107.5 mph single, and Corbin Carroll followed with a 107.4 mph RBI triple, then scored on a Gabriel Moreno ground0ut.

View Link

The Diamondbacks then posted another crooked number in the second, courtesy of Carroll’s first home-run of the year (above). That three-run shot made it 5-0: it was 107.8 mph, and came on the heels of singles by Ildemaro Vargas and Jordan Lawlar, both in three digits. [Though the hardest-hit ball off Verlander tonight, was a screamer just foul by Moreno, clocked at an amazing 115.6 mph] The Detroit starter was yanked in the fourth, and Arizona added three more runs in the fifth, driven in by an Alek Thomas double, a Lawlar walk, and an Allen Campbell challenge, which turned a Marte groundout into an RBI single. That’s the 8-0 mentioned earlier, and I figured I was safe to start work on the recap.

The Arizona bullpen laughs in the face of such hubris. Though as I mentioned in the GDT, if you’re going to discover that Joe Ross is who you thought he was, doing so with an eight-run lead is the best time to do so. After Soroka, Kevin Ginkel worked a clean sixth. But in the seventh inning, Ross allowed five hits and a walk, all six runners coming round to score. That forced Torey Lovullo to go to Ryan Thompson. Unfortunately, Joe West decided Ryan Thompson’s mechanics now constituted a balk, for failing to come set. After that was called twice, Thompson (probably understandably) lost composure, allowed a double, then walked consecutive batters on four straight balls.