PHOENIX (AP) — Hair flapping out of his headband, Corbin Carroll races past second base as if a double isn't an option.
It's a last resort.
Doubles are fine if that's what you want. Carroll needs one bag more.
“What's a standup double to a majority of the people in the big leagues, it's a standup triple to him,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said after Carroll legged out two triples in the Diamondbacks' 9-1 win over Colorado on Sunday. “I enjoy every single one of them.”
There's been plenty to like.
Since his first full season in the big leagues, Carroll has been racking up triples like third base is owed to him.
The two triples — both run-scoring — against the Rockies gives Carroll eight on the season, four more than Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson. Carroll has 51 in his career, leaving him one shy of the team record set by Stephen Drew, who needed three more seasons and nearly 1,000 more plate appearances to do it.
Carroll also is the second-fastest player (537 games) in big-league history to reach 50 triples and 80 homers — he has 89 — behind Yankees Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who did it in 461.
“I’ve seen it a lot,” said Ryne Nelson, Arizona’s starter on Sunday. “I know he’s creeping up on the record and might get it tomorrow.”
Carroll has been taking 'em since he first broke into the big leagues.
Carroll led the National League with 14 triples his rookie season. He tied Boston's Jarren Duran to lead the big leagues with 14 in 2024 and held the top spot alone with 17 last season.
Should he keep up this pace, Carroll would be the first player in MLB history to lead or tie for the lead in triples in three straight seasons. It would also be the first time leading a league in four straight seasons since Lance Johnson of the Chicago White Sox from 1991-94.
“I just want to take advantage of what’s given to me and when there’s an opportunity, definitely want to take the extra base,” the always low-key Carroll said.
Carroll's secret: a combination of speed and aggression.
Carroll is one of the fastest players in baseball, hitting a top speed of nearly 30 feet per second. He regularly goes home to first in under four seconds and has the fastest home-to-third time in MLB history at 10.71 seconds against San Francisco last Tuesday. His two triples on Sunday were both just over 11 seconds.
There's also a mindset that anything that gets past an outfielder is a triple until it isn't
Charging out of the batter's box, Carroll thinks triple on any ball to the wall, often pushing forward even if the outfielder gets to the ball before he passes second base.
“As soon is that ball is hit,” I'm looking at Corbin," Lovullo said. “He's cutting corners and by the time he's between first and second, he's in full stride.”
On his way to a triple, more times than not.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll (7) runs past Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (11), of Japan, as Carroll beats out an infield single during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
ABOARD THE RFA LYME BAY (AP) — Aboard the RFA Lyme Bay docked off the coast of Gibraltar, hundreds of British sailors are waiting to be deployed for a mine-clearing mission to the Strait of Hormuz that is still in doubt.
U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at allies for not doing more to support the United States' war effort in Iran, whose chokehold on the strait has crippled international shipping and sent energy prices soaring. In March, Trump told NATO allies to “go get your own oil” and secure the strait themselves.
On the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, the U.K.’s Royal Navy is preparing to do that — but only once a peace agreement is reached. Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran has been “largely negotiated” after calls with Israel and other allies in the region, but it still needs finalizing.
Britain’s Armed Forces Minister Al Carns took a small group of reporters to visit the RFA Lyme Bay as it prepares for a possible international operation, led by the U.K. and France, to secure the strait. As Carns spoke, the amphibious landing vessel, docked at the gateway to the Mediterranean, was being loaded with ammunition and mine-hunting sea drones equipped with sonar.
With a crew of several hundred sailors, the RFA Lyme Bay will soon depart Gibraltar to link up with the U.K. destroyer HMS Dragon and allied ships for air support before sailing through the Suez Canal to the Persian Gulf.
“Which other country can pull together 40 nations and come up with a solution to deal with a complex problem that we couldn’t predict because we weren’t involved?” asked Carns, responding to a question from The Associated Press about what Trump wants from his British ally.
After the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait, a key waterway for the region’s oil, natural gas and fertilizer, causing global economic pain. The U.K. in particular has drawn the ire of Trump, who has described Britain’s navy as “toys” and Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “not Winston Churchill.”
At least 6,000 ships have been blocked from passing through the strait since the conflict began, Carns said.
Iran could have a “huge” variety of mines throughout strait, said Cmdr. Gemma Britton, who is in charge of the Royal Navy’s Mine and Threat Exploitation Group. Mines could be rocket-propelled, cabled or sit on the seabed and be triggered by sound, movement or light.
AP was shown autonomous systems that can scan the seabed and the water with sonar in about half the time it takes for a crewed vessel to enter and map potential dangers. The sea drones equipped with sonar produce a picture of objects under the water, from fishing traps to pipelines. The picture is used to identify mines that can be explored with advanced acoustic systems and cameras, Britton said.
Some of the systems on the RFA Lyme Bay can be loaded onto a smaller vessel that can be launched and piloted autonomously from the ship, which acts as a mother ship, waiting outside any potential minefield, Britton said. That reduces the number of people needed to enter, she said.
Once a mine has been located, a diver with explosives normally places a charge on the mine before swimming away to detonate it. But RFA Lyme Bay is trialing a remotely operated vehicle that dives and drops a charge by a mine before setting it off, Britton said.
The priority, she said, will be to clear a transit lane in the strait to allow around 700 ships to leave. A lane flowing in the opposite direction will then be cleared, allowing ships to enter, she said, but added that clearing the entire strait could take months or years.
It's still not clear if any mines are in the strait — or if the U.K. and its allies will be deploying to remove them.
A U.S. official speaking on condition on anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters told the AP that the U.S. has not found or destroyed any mines in the strait, nor have any ships been damaged. Commercial traffic has quietly continued to flow, though at a much lower volume than before the conflict.
When asked by the AP if the British effort was partly for show, to curry favor with the U.S., Carns said he was sure some mines had been blown up or floated away but that assurance is not good enough for commercial insurance companies. He said those companies need “absolute certainty” to get vessels traveling through the strait again.
“That’s what this capability will provide,” he said.
The international effort to secure the strait would happen only once hostilities are over.
“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump said Saturday on social media, with no details on timing.
This is not the first time in recent weeks that a deal has been described as close.
“We don’t know when the Americans, Iranians and Israelis are going to come up with a suitable solution,” Carns said.
In the meantime, the RFA Lyme Bay and its crew will be waiting and will be “really, really ready,” Carns said.
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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
Autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines are soon on RFA Lyme Bay, in British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha) CORRECTION: Location corrected to British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, instead of territory of Gibraltar
Britain's Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, centre, inspects autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay, in British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha) CORRECTION: Location corrected to British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, instead of territory of Gibraltar
Britain's Armed Forces Minister Al Carns speaks during an interview on RFA Lyme Bay, in British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha) CORRECTION: Location corrected to British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, instead of territory of Gibraltar
UK Royal Navy personnel inspect autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay, in British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha) CORRECTION: Location corrected to British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, instead of territory of Gibraltar
UK Royal Navy personnel inspect autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay, in British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha) CORRECTION: Location corrected to British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, instead of territory of Gibraltar
Autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines are soon on RFA Lyme Bay, in territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha)
Britain's Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, centre, inspects autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay in territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha)
Britain's Armed Forces Minister Al Carns speaks during an interview on RFA Lyme Bay, in territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha)
UK Royal Navy personnel inspect autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay in territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha)
UK Royal Navy personnel inspect autonomous vehicles with sonar sensor that can detect and identify mines, on RFA Lyme Bay in territory of Gibraltar, on Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kwiyeon Ha)
