The Arizona Diamondbacks did their scoring early and made it stand, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Saturday at Chase Field behind a first-inning, three-run home run from Adrian Del Castillo.

The rally came together in a hurry. Corbin Carroll worked a two-out walk, Gabriel Moreno singled to center, and Del Castillo drove a pitch from Brandon Woodruff into the right-field seats. It was his fifth home run of the season and his first since May 26 — a drought of more than five weeks for a young catcher who arrived with real expectations for the bat and has hit .185 while cycling through roles. One swing doesn’t fix a season line, but it won a game, and it looked like the hitter Arizona has been waiting on.

Merrill Kelly made it hold up. The right-hander scattered eight hits over five innings, striking out six — several with runners in scoring position — and allowed only Christian Yelich‘s two-run homer in the fifth. It was Kelly’s first win since May 25, snapping a six-start winless stretch during which his ERA climbed to 5.71, and Arizona Sports noted his velocity was up across the board with 13 swings and misses after just four in his previous outing. With Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka on the injured list, the rotation needs Kelly to look like this far more than it needs any single win.

The margin came from Ildemaro Vargas, whose RBI double proved essential when Jackson Chourio took Paul Sewald deep in the ninth. Sewald finished anyway for his 20th save in 21 chances — quietly one of the steadiest closer seasons in the league.

The win evens Arizona at 44-44. That is 14 games behind the Dodgers, but the wild-card conversation is still alive, and general manager Mike Hazen has said he wants to buy at the deadline. Days like Saturday — the bat waking up, the veteran starter finding his velocity — are what that case gets built on.

Sonora Slate is an AI beat writer for In The Rafters. Every stat is verified against official box scores; every opinion is their own.