PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks didn't simply take care of business Friday night at Chase Field.
They sent a message.

With September approaching and every game carrying increasingly significant postseason implications, the Diamondbacks opened their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds with a dominant 9-0 victory on August 21, 2026, powered by a breakout performance from Jordan Lawlar, another outstanding start from Eduardo Rodriguez and an Arizona offense that attacked Cincinnati from the opening inning.

Arizona finished with 15 hits, nine runs and zero errors. Cincinnati managed only four hits, all singles, and never seriously threatened to turn the game into a contest.

The Diamondbacks improved to 68-61 with the victory, earning their second consecutive win and remaining just one game behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League Wild Card position.

With 33 games remaining, Arizona's postseason push is very much alive.

And if Friday night is any indication, one of the most talented young players in the organization may be arriving at exactly the right time.

Jordan Lawlar Delivers Breakout Performance for Diamondbacks

Jordan Lawlar has carried enormous expectations throughout his rise through the Diamondbacks organization.
Friday night provided a glimpse of why.

Lawlar went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored, producing his first career three-hit game and establishing a new career high in RBIs.

His biggest swing came in the second inning.

Arizona had already grabbed a 1-0 lead when Lawlar stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run to left field, giving the Diamondbacks a 3-0 advantage and immediately putting Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo in serious trouble.

It was Lawlar's second career Major League home run.

More importantly, it looked like the kind of swing and the kind of night that could become a turning point for a young player trying to establish himself at the Major League level.

The Diamondbacks have spent years waiting for Lawlar's combination of athleticism, speed, defense and offensive potential to translate into consistent Major League production. Injuries and limited opportunities have interrupted that process, but Arizona still believes in the talent that once made him one of baseball's premier prospects.

Against Cincinnati, everything came together.

Lawlar wasn't merely part of the offense.

He drove it.

And with Ketel Marte currently unavailable, Arizona could not have picked a better time for Lawlar to begin making a bigger impact.

Diamondbacks Offense Overwhelms Cincinnati

Lawlar may have produced the headline, but this was far from a one-man offensive performance.

Arizona attacked Cincinnati from virtually everywhere in the lineup.

The Diamondbacks scored in each of the first four innings, quickly turning the series opener into a game Cincinnati was chasing rather than controlling.

Arizona scored once in the first inning, three times in the second, once in the third and once in the fourth to build a commanding 6-0 advantage.

The Diamondbacks weren't finished.

They added another run in the seventh and two more in the eighth, turning a comfortable victory into a 9-0 blowout.
Geraldo Perdomo joined Lawlar with a three-hit night, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Gabriel Moreno continued his scorching stretch at the plate with two more hits and an RBI, extending his career-best hitting streak to 14 games.

Corbin Carroll celebrated his 26th birthday by collecting two hits, scoring twice and stealing a base.

Tim Tawa contributed two hits and an RBI.

Lawlar, Perdomo, Moreno, Carroll and Tawa combined for 12 of Arizona's 15 hits.

That is the type of lineup depth the Diamondbacks will need if they intend to chase down a postseason berth over the final five-plus weeks of the regular season.

Arizona's Speed Creates Immediate Problems for Reds

The Diamondbacks didn't rely exclusively on their bats.

They created chaos.

Arizona stole four bases during the first two innings, repeatedly forcing Cincinnati to defend more than simply the hitter standing at the plate.

It marked only the fourth time in franchise history that the Diamondbacks recorded four stolen bases over the first two innings of a game.

That statistic tells the story of how aggressively Arizona approached the matchup.

When this offense is at its best, the Diamondbacks can attack opponents in multiple ways. They can hit for power. They can string together singles. They can go first-to-third. They can steal bases. They can pressure defenses into making rushed decisions.

Friday night featured virtually all of it.

The result was an offense that never allowed Cincinnati to become comfortable.

Gabriel Moreno Extends Hitting Streak to 14 Games

While Lawlar's breakout will receive most of the attention, Gabriel Moreno continues to build one of the more intriguing stretches of the Diamondbacks' season.

Moreno recorded two more hits Friday and extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest of his Major League career.

His first-inning RBI single brought Carroll home and put Arizona ahead 1-0.

From there, the Diamondbacks never looked back.

Moreno's production becomes particularly valuable while Marte is unavailable because Arizona needs additional hitters to absorb some of the offensive responsibility normally carried by one of the best players in the lineup.

Moreno is doing exactly that.

If he can maintain this level of offensive production while continuing to provide value behind the plate, the Diamondbacks lineup becomes considerably deeper heading into September.

Corbin Carroll Celebrates Birthday With Two-Hit Performance

Corbin Carroll didn't need candles to celebrate his 26th birthday.

He had Chase Field.

Carroll collected two hits, scored twice and stole a base as part of Arizona's relentless offensive attack.

His speed helped establish the aggressive tone Arizona carried throughout the early innings, and his ability to get on base created immediate scoring opportunities for the hitters behind him.

The Diamondbacks don't need Carroll to carry the offense by himself.

They need him creating pressure.

Friday night, he did exactly that.

Eduardo Rodriguez Dominates Reds

For all the attention Arizona's offense deserved, Eduardo Rodriguez made sure nine runs were considerably more than the Diamondbacks needed.

Rodriguez delivered 5 2/3 scoreless innings, surrendering four hits and two walks while striking out four.

He threw 99 pitches, including 63 strikes, and improved to 13-4 with a 2.61 ERA.

Rodriguez was one out away from completing six scoreless innings before walking Eugenio Suárez with two outs in the sixth, ending his evening just short of another quality start.

It hardly diminished the performance.

Cincinnati never solved him.

The Reds' four hits against Rodriguez were all singles, and they couldn't turn those baserunners into anything meaningful.

Rodriguez has now won three consecutive starts and improved to 6-1 since July 10.

That's becoming an extremely important development for Arizona.

The Diamondbacks need stability in their starting rotation during a postseason chase, and Rodriguez is providing it.

Every contender wants a starting pitcher it feels comfortable handing the baseball to during an important late-season game.

Rodriguez increasingly looks like one of those pitchers for Arizona.

Diamondbacks Bullpen Slams the Door

Rodriguez left the game with Cincinnati still searching for its first run.

It never came.

Dennis Santana, Justin Martinez and Taylor Clarke combined to pitch 3 1/3 hitless innings in relief.

Santana recorded four outs without allowing a hit or walk while striking out two.

Martinez worked a scoreless eighth, allowing one walk and recording one strikeout.

Clarke finished the shutout with a perfect ninth inning and one strikeout.

Cincinnati didn't record another hit after Rodriguez left the mound.

Four Reds hits through 5 2/3 innings became four Reds hits through nine.

That's how a dominant pitching performance becomes a shutout.

Justin Martinez Gives Diamondbacks Another Encouraging Outing

Don't overlook Justin Martinez.

His scoreless eighth inning may have appeared relatively insignificant with Arizona holding a massive lead, but the larger implications could be extremely important.

Martinez threw 20 pitches, 13 for strikes, walked one and struck out one while keeping his ERA at 0.00.

Arizona's bullpen becomes a different group if Martinez can establish himself as a dependable late-inning weapon.

The Diamondbacks don't need to rush that process. They need Martinez healthy, comfortable and consistently locating his arsenal.

But every successful appearance represents another step toward potentially having a significant bullpen weapon available when the games become even more important in September.

Diamondbacks Destroy Reds Starter Nick Lodolo

Arizona's hitters never allowed Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo to establish himself.

By the time Cincinnati came to the plate in the fifth inning, the Diamondbacks had already built a 6-0 lead.

Lodolo lasted only 3 1/3 innings, surrendering 10 hits and six earned runs while walking two.

He fell to 3-3.

The performance against a left-handed starter was another encouraging sign for Arizona's lineup.

The Diamondbacks didn't simply survive the matchup.

They attacked it.

Ten hits and six runs against Lodolo effectively decided the game before Cincinnati reached the middle innings.

Diamondbacks Continue Winning Without Ketel Marte

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Friday night's offensive explosion was who wasn't in the lineup.

Ketel Marte remains unavailable after landing on the injured list with inflammation in his left knee.

Friday represented Arizona's fourth consecutive game without its star infielder.

Losing a hitter of Marte's caliber would significantly impact any Major League lineup, particularly during a postseason chase.

Yet the Diamondbacks just produced 15 hits and nine runs without him.

Nobody should expect one player to replace Marte's production.

That's not how Arizona needs to approach this stretch.

Instead, the Diamondbacks need collective production.

Lawlar needs to contribute.

Moreno needs to continue hitting.

Perdomo needs to get on base.

Carroll needs to create pressure.

The bottom portion of the order needs to extend innings.

Friday night was an excellent example of what that formula can look like.

Diamondbacks Remain Right in the National League Wild Card Race

This is where the 9-0 victory becomes bigger than one dominant Friday night at Chase Field.

Arizona improved to 68-61.

The Diamondbacks remain only one game behind San Diego for the final National League Wild Card spot.

There are 33 games remaining.

September is almost here.

This is officially a playoff race.

Arizona just completed a challenging road trip through Atlanta and Boston and returned home with an opportunity to take advantage of a struggling Cincinnati team.

The Reds entered the weekend heading in the opposite direction and fell to 61-68 following Friday night's loss.

These are precisely the games Arizona needs to win.

Postseason teams don't merely survive against struggling opponents in August and September.

They take advantage of them.

The Diamondbacks did that emphatically Friday.

Jordan Lawlar Could Become a Major Factor in Arizona's Playoff Push

There will be plenty of time to determine exactly what Friday night's performance means for Jordan Lawlar.

One game doesn't establish a career.

But sometimes one game changes the conversation.

Lawlar's talent has never been the question. Arizona drafted him sixth overall in 2021 because the organization believed he possessed the tools to eventually become a foundational Major League player.

The journey hasn't followed a straight line.

Now comes another opportunity.

Arizona is fighting for the postseason. Marte is unavailable. Every lineup spot matters. Every run matters. Every game matters.

If Lawlar can turn Friday's breakout into sustained production, the Diamondbacks may have discovered an important additional weapon for the stretch run.

His three-hit, three-RBI performance against Cincinnati was a terrific start.

Diamondbacks Have Opportunity to Take Control of Reds Series

Arizona won't have much time to celebrate.

The Diamondbacks return to Chase Field Saturday with an opportunity to clinch the series victory before Sunday's finale.

Michael Soroka is scheduled to start for Arizona opposite Cincinnati's Rhett Lowder.

Soroka enters the matchup at 8-3 with a 2.93 ERA, while Lowder is 4-8 with a 5.17 ERA.

On paper, Arizona has another favorable pitching matchup.

But late-season baseball isn't played on paper.

The Diamondbacks still have to capitalize.

Winning Friday was important.

Winning the series is more important.

Sweeping it would be even better.

When you're one game outside a playoff position with 33 games remaining, every opportunity to gain ground matters.

Arizona Diamondbacks Are Making the Wild Card Race Interesting

The Diamondbacks aren't asking anyone's permission to remain in the postseason conversation.
They're there.

Arizona is 68-61.

The Diamondbacks are one game outside the final National League Wild Card position.

They've won two straight.

Eduardo Rodriguez is pitching like a frontline starter. Gabriel Moreno owns a 14-game hitting streak. Corbin Carroll continues creating havoc. Justin Martinez is working his way back into the bullpen equation.

And now Jordan Lawlar has delivered the biggest offensive game of his Major League career.

There are questions remaining. Marte's health is an obvious concern. The pitching staff still needs to hold together through September. The bullpen must prove it can consistently protect close leads, and young players such as Lawlar must demonstrate that nights like Friday can become something more than isolated flashes.

But that's what makes the next 33 games so fascinating.

Arizona doesn't need everything to be perfect.

It needs to keep winning.

Friday night, the Diamondbacks didn't merely win.

They dominated.

Diamondbacks 9. Reds 0.

Fifteen hits. Four stolen bases in the first two innings. A four-hit shutout. Three hits and three RBIs from Jordan Lawlar. Another scoreless start from Eduardo Rodriguez. Another hitless performance from the bullpen.

And one more victory in a National League Wild Card race that is getting more interesting by the day.

September baseball is coming to the desert.

​The Arizona Diamondbacks are making sure those games are going to matter.
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​Past Diamondbacks Articles: 
​Diamondbacks Escape Fenway With 7-6 Extra-Inning Win, Avoid Red Sox Sweep 
Diamondbacks’ Nightmare Night at Fenway Goes Far Beyond 11-1 Loss 

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