Diamondbacks young pitchers to be put to test after Padres even series

PHOENIX — Tuesday’s game went off the rails for the Arizona Diamondbacks pretty quickly.

Staff ace Eduardo Rodriguez needed 56 pitches to get through two innings, the defense failed him and the San Diego Padres went up 6-0 in an eventual 9-4 win for the visitors.

With the series evened, the Diamondbacks will rely on rookie starters Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake to perform over the next two games against a San Diego team hot on Arizona’s trail for the third National League Wild Card spot.

The Padres (59-55) moved to one game back of the Diamondbacks (60-54) for the third spot in Tuesday’s win.

“This is going to be a good series,” Lovullo said. “We know it. We’re right there in the standings with one another, and we’ve got to come out and play a good baseball game tomorrow.”

Adding more stakes to this week’s games, the D-backs and Padres are an even 4-4 in their season series, and the tiebreaker hangs in the balance. Two more wins from either squad this week, and they would be in the driver’s seat with one series remaining between the two.

The Diamondbacks tried to acquire starting pitching at the trade deadline on Monday, but for one reason and another, they came up short. Starting pitcher Michael Soroka pitched for Triple-A Reno on a rehab assignment on Tuesday, and Lovullo said it was his gut feeling that Soroka’s next start would be back in Arizona.

That leaves Bratt and Drake one start each before one potentially gets replaced.

“We’re watching them grow right before our very eyes,” Lovullo said on Monday. “It’s been a little bit of a crash course for them, but they’ve accepted that challenge, and they go out there and make pitches and keep us in games. That’s what the mindset should be every time.”

In a cruel twist of fate, a pitcher the Diamondbacks attempted to acquire, right-hander Casey Mize, will start on Wednesday for the Padres.

Rough night for the Diamondbacks

The Padres scored three runs each in the first and second innings on Tuesday with a combination of rockets hit off Rodriguez and defensive missteps.

Right fielder Corbin Carroll had Padres base runner Manny Machado dead-to-rights on a throw home in the first inning, but catcher James McCann did not scoop the short hop to complete the third out. The Padres took a 2-0 lead and tacked on one more.

In the second inning, second baseman Ketel Marte made a fielding error on a potential inning-ending double play grounder. The double play would have kept the score at 3-0, but San Diego took advantage by doubling its lead. It was the swinging-doors moment for a game that got ugly, as Rodriguez needed 17 additional pitches to escape the inning.

“It was a tough play, the ball is hit hard,” Lovullo said. “I think if the play is made, we’re out of the inning. It’s still three. It’s manageable. So it definitely had an impact on the pitch count and E-Rod’s length that he could give us.”

“Normally the defense is always behind me, I mean, it’s the best defense we have in the league,” Rodriguez said. “If somebody makes an error, I just try to make a good pitch after that. But, I missed a lot of spots today.”

Rodriguez did well to get through 5.2 innings despite the early trouble, but he was tagged with five earned runs for the second time in 23 starts.

He allowed 11 hits, a season high. Arizona had to use four relievers, including Paul Sewald, who inherited runners and recorded three outs with no runs allowed.

Diamondbacks’ stars need to play like it

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks offense did nothing against Padres starter Randy Vasquez, who threw six shutout innings.

Geraldo Perdomo stayed hot with a pair of hits, as he has 14 over his last nine games. But Carroll and Marte continued to provide very little. The duo went 0-for-8 on Tuesday.

In July, Carroll and Marte produced a .610 and .603 OPS, respectively. In August, they have combined to go 3-for-32 at the plate. Lovullo has even tried switching around the batting order to get them going, and the struggles have continued. That is going to have to change quickly with the margins for error so small in a tight playoff race.

“It’s a grind,” Lovullo said. “They’re both very professional about it. They come every day and work hard. I see some of the work they’re doing … it’s just got to transition into the game. It can get really frustrating. It can bog you down to the point where you lose sleep, and you can’t get it out of your mind. But these guys come to work every single day and post up for their teammates.”

The Diamondbacks showed life in the seventh inning with two-run home runs from Nolan Arenado and McCann to cut the deficit in half. Carroll came up with a chance to extend the rally, but he hit a sharp ground ball for an out.

Lars Nootbaar made his D-backs debut and finished 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, which is a key element to his game.

Catcher Gabriel Moreno was away from the team on paternity leave.

James McCann ties franchise record

McCann’s home run put him on a list with Luis Gonzalez and Paul Goldschmidt.

The veteran catcher has driven in runs in eight consecutive games, tying the franchise record. Gonzalez did so in 2002 and Goldschmidt in 2013.

McCann is also on a 10-game hit streak, his most since 2018.

Diamondbacks on rehab assignments

Tuesday was a big day for Diamondbacks on rehab assignments:

• Soroka threw four innings and 57 pitches, allowing one run for Triple-A Reno.
• Outfielder Jordan Lawlar played six innings of defense and went 0-for-3 for Double-A Amarillo.
• Reliever Justin Martinez started for Single-A Visalia and threw a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts.

Additional notes

• Diamondbacks top pitching prospect David Hagaman was promoted to Double-A Amarillo, replacing Daniel Eagen, who was traded for Nootbaar.
• Arizona’s 2026 first-round pick Ryder Helfrick made his debut for Visalia and hit a home run. Second-rounder Carson Kerce and third-rounder Brayden Dowd were also assigned to Visalia to begin their minor league careers.

Related

Grading the Diamondbacks’ relatively quiet trade deadlineWhat did the Diamondbacks’ NL Wild Card foes do at the trade deadline?Justin Martinez, Jordan Lawlar among Diamondbacks starting rehab assignments on TuesdayDiamondbacks GM Mike Hazen: Ryan Waldschmidt was most asked about player at trade deadlineBrandon Pfaadt continues to be invaluable to Diamondbacks in win over PadresDiamondbacks risk falling behind after anticlimactic trade deadline