Marte and Montgomery lead Diamondbacks past Royals to even series

Ketel Marte hit his second home run of the series in the fifth inning off the right field pole at Kauffman Stadium. It was a two-run home run that extended the Diamondbacks’ lead to four runs and secured a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Center fielder Corbin Carroll got the Diamondbacks offense going with a leadoff single in the first off Royals right-hander Alec Marsh. Later in the first, after Carroll scored on a sacrifice fly, Gabriel Moreno lined in Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with a single up the middle for a three-run lead.

The Royals struck back in the bottom of the first. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. continued his hot streak after narrowly missing the cycle in the Diamondbacks’ 10-4 loss to the Royals on Monday night.

Witt singled to drive in second baseman Garett Hampson, but Jordan Montgomery and four relievers allowed Kansas City just one more run the rest of the way. Witt saw his streak of four consecutive games with three or more hits snapped.

Marsh settled down after the rough first inning and shut out Arizona for the next three innings, at one point retiring four straight Diamondbacks batters and retiring 10 of the 11 batters he faced. But Geraldo Perdomo doubled to lead off the fifth inning, and with one out, Marte’s long drive broke the game open.

Marsh, pitching for Arizona State, went five innings, allowing five hits and five runs while striking out six.

The Diamondbacks extended their lead to 6-1 in the eighth inning when Marte singled and later scored on an error by Freddy Fermin.

Montgomery did just enough for the Diamondbacks in his five innings. Before leaving with a 5-1 lead, he surrendered three hits and one run and struck out two batters. Right-handed pitcher Bryce Jarvis was also sharp. He threw two clean innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing no hits for the fourth consecutive game and striking out two batters.

The comeback win for the Diamondbacks evens the series with the Royals, putting them two games above .500. The final game of the series is played on Wednesday night.

The pitching contest between the Diamondbacks and the Royals on Wednesday

Diamondbacks at Royals, 5:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-6, 4.78) vs. Royals RHP Michael Wacha (7-6, 3.55).

At the Kauffman Stadium: Nelson has flipped the switch since the calendar turned to July, appearing in four games this month and compiling a 2.22 ERA after a rough June in which he was 2-2 with a 5.20 ERA… His most recent outing came on July 19 at Chicago against the Cubs, in which he threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, one run, two walks and nine strikeouts… The nine strikeouts were a career high for Nelson… His overall ERA for the season is 4.78, but his road ERA drops to 3.58… In six of his last seven starts, Nelson has thrown five or more innings… He has increased his fastball usage by 13.5% in July… Wacha’s ERA for the season is 3.55, but his home ERA is 2.96… Wacha last started on July 19 at home against the Chicago White Sox, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out seven and allowing just four hits… The De The 32-year-old threw 134 1/3 innings last season — his highest innings output since 2016 — with a 3.22 ERA while making 24 starts for San Diego… Wacha has started 17 games this season and has collected 96 1/3 innings… He is 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA in eight career starts against Arizona.