The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies by another clear score of 12-5, taking three of four games at Chase Field and winning the season series 4-3.

Right-handed starter Merrill Kelly made his first start since returning from the injured list. The crafty veteran’s day got off to a rocky start, allowing a walk and two doubles to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.

Although he struggled a bit with his otherwise strong batting control, Kelly was able to establish himself in five strong innings and worked increasingly efficiently as the game progressed.

Manager Torey Lovullo was impressed by Kelly’s strong performance.

“Great to have Merrill back. He just went out there and attacked the zone. I’m sure his spikes were a little rusty, he was knocking down pitch after pitch… To me, that looked like the old Merrill, mixing up the pitches, following a game plan and getting us back in the dugout to score some runs,” Lovullo said.

Despite only two strikeouts, he managed five two-run innings, throwing 85 pitches, including 52 strikes. He worked through a tough fifth inning after a six-pitch walk to Kyle Schwarber brought Trea Turner to bat, with Kelly already having reached his 80-pitch limit.

But the right-hander finished the inning strong with a force out at second base. Kelly said he was grateful for the chance to finish the fifth inning despite his pitch count.

“I definitely appreciated that. It was fun to walk off the mound and know that I had completed the five (innings) that I set out to do,” Kelly told Jack Sommers of Sports Illustrated. “There was definitely a feeling of accomplishment walking off the mound that we had completed the five innings that we wanted to do.”

Kelly’s record improves to 3-0, with a 2.43 ERA. It may not have been his strongest start ever, but he kept control of the game and made the D-backs’ offense work.

And they went to work.

Against Phillies All-Star left-hander Christopher Sanchez, the D-backs were able to record twelve hits, two walks and seven runs, chasing him away with two outs in the fifth inning. But it started pouring with rain early on.

With two outs in the first inning, Arizona managed three consecutive singles to cut the lead to 2-1. After a few players faltered in the second inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Josh Bell started the third inning with singles.

Eugenio Suarez brought Gurriel in with a sharp double, and promising catcher Adrian Del Castillo made it 4-2 with a two-run single. A wild pitch later brought Del Castillo home from third base to make it 5-2.

Del Castillo once again put in a strong performance at the plate, hitting 3 for 5 with two doubles and two RBIs. He began his career with a 7 for 12 streak, with those seven hits setting a franchise record for most hits by a player in his first three career games, just two games after his walk-off home run.

“It’s a great story about the development of a player. Everyone has a stake in his success… That’s what we do here, we knew what he was capable of, we asked him to come here and be the same guy, not try to do too much… He had three really good approaches that resulted in base hits,” Lovullo said of his young catcher.

The D-backs continued to add to their lead in the fifth inning, with a pair of two-out singles and a walk by Geraldo Perdomo filling the bases for Jake McCarthy.

McCarthy hit the ball down the right field line into the corner, cleared the bases and made it to third base with ease, increasing Arizona’s lead to 8-2. McCarthy continued his hot streak with a stellar 3-for-5 day, a triple and four RBIs.

The speedy outfielder’s slash is now an impressive .304/.375/.451, with a power boost of .719 so far this month.

“I just know he’s in a very good hitting position. The common denominator of a good hitter is you have to swing at good pitches and see the ball,” Lovullo said. “And he’s on the ball, he’s swinging at strikes and letting the balls fly by him and he doesn’t miss the pitches he’s waiting for.”

With two outs in the sixth inning, Suarez reached first base on an errant throw by Alec Bohm. After another hit by Del Castillo, Kevin Newman hit a double into the gap in right field to make the game 9-2.

Newman has put his name on the list of outstanding offensive performances, going 3-for-4, hitting 2 doubles, an RBI and a walk. Read more about Newman’s rise to become a key part of the D-backs here.

The only real blemish in the bullpen was right-hander Dylan Floro. He struggled through a rough seventh inning in which he allowed four straight hits before getting one out on a sacrifice fly. A double play knocked him out of the inning, but not before the Phillies narrowed the gap to 9-5.

But the answerbacks answered one after the other.

A single and a stolen base by Perdomo and McCarthy’s third hit of the game made it 10-5 before Corbin Carroll sent a rocket to left-center field, sending a 99 mph sinker by strong left-hander Jose Alvarado into the stands at 106.2 mph and promptly getting all three runs back from Floro.

AJ Puk and Paul Sewald finished the eighth and ninth innings without much trouble and the D-backs improved to 66-53.

Since the Padres lost to the Marlins on the same day, Arizona is now tied for the first Wild Card spot and has extended its lead over the Mets and Braves to 4.0.

Of course, there is good news and bad news. Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was taken out of the game with a strained left thigh. He made an excellent catch on a ball against the wall and was 2-for-2 at the plate before being taken out of the game.

Details of Gurriel’s injury can be found here.

In the final two games of the series, the Diamondbacks scored an incredible 33 hits and defeated the Phillies 23-6. They continue to sweep the competition and face the Rockies in a three-game series starting Monday at Chase Field.

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