Diamondbacks dig out of small hole, overpower Brewers

Nolan Arenado had a three-run homer and Ildemaro Vargas extended his season-opening hitting streak to 22 games as the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks evened the series with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.

Arizona erased a 2-0 deficit with four runs in the fourth off starter Brandon Sproat (0-2) on a solo homer by Adrian Del Castillo and Arenado’s three-run shot.

The Diamondbacks added two in the ninth on back-to-back solo homers by Ketel Marte, his fifth, and Corbin Carroll, his fourth.

Del Castillo put Arizona on the board with one out in the fourth with his second homer of the season. Vargas and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with consecutive singles. Arenado then sent an 0-1 pitch 411 feet to left-center for his fifth homer.

The Brewers loaded the bases in the bottom half on a double by Luis Rengifo and consecutive two-out walks, but Eduardo Rodriguez got Brice Turang on an inning-ending bouncer to first.

Rodriguez allowed two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Kevin Ginkel (1-1) got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Juan Morillo, Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald finished with a scoreless inning apiece.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first on doubles by Turang and Jake Bauers.

Milwaukee made it 2-0 in the third when Brandon Lockridge beat out a bunt single to open and Turang followed with an RBI double to left-center.

Vargas also singled with one out in the second to extend his club-record season-opening hitting streak to 22 games and overall streak to 25 games, dating back to last season.

Vargas streak ties him with Joe Torre (Cardinals, 1971) for the third-longest season-opening streak in the majors since 1940. Ron LeFlore had 30 consecutive games with Detroit in 1976, and Atlanta’s Edgar Renteria opened with 23 straight in 2006.

–Field Level Media