Diamondbacks bullpen has rough eighth inning in loss to Rockies

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks hosted the Colorado Rockies Friday night, continuing their last homestand of the 2018 regular season while holding to very slim hopes of playing baseball in October. The D-backs went into the night six games back of the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and five games back in the National League Wild Card race.

D-backs manager Torrey Lovullo said before the game starting pitcher Zack Greinke approached him about trying to maximize what’s left in Greinke’s tank in 2018. The conversation led to Lovullo bumping Zack Godley’s scheduled start for Friday and giving Greinke the ball. The move, ideally, would allow Greinke to pitch on Sept. 30 on short rest in San Diego after starting on Wednesday.

That might not be necessary, though, as the D-backs’ slim playoff chances got even slimmer after a 6-2 loss.

Arizona wasted no time jumping on Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez.

Right fielder Jon Jay led off the bottom of the first with a double, shortly followed by a 404-foot moon shot from David Peralta (29) that gave the D-backs an early 2-0 lead. Peralta’s 72nd career home run moves him ahead of teammate A.J. Pollock and ties him for 12th with Stephen Drew on the Diamondbacks’ all-time home run leaders list.

Greinke got off to a great start as well. He sat down the first 13 Rockies he faced before walking Carlos Gonzalez in the top of the fifth. A wild pitch allowed Gonzalez to move up to second, and then on the next pitch, Ian Desmond knocked a single right up the middle, narrowing Arizona’s lead to 2-1.

Greinke was able to sit down the first two Rockies in the top of the sixth but then gave up a two-out double to center fielder Charlie Blackmon. DJ LeMahieu then stepped in, knocking a line drive over Peralta’s head in left field to tie the game with another two-out double.

Marquez was able to quiet the D-backs offense for six innings following the two-run first. He pitched seven innings, gave up two earned runs, six hits and struck out 11. For Marquez, tonight was his fifth double-digit strikeout game this season.

The 28,833 fans in attendance at Chase Field were pleased with Greinke’s performance, as they gave him a standing ovation after he exited the game in the eighth. He threw 7.1 innings, giving up three earned runs, four hits, two walks, and struck out six.

“Zack is a warrior, and I get to see him every single day. He wants to go out and pitch well for our entire organization, and he carried us today.” Lovullo said after the game.

Enter Jake Diekman with one out in the top of the eighth and a runner on first. Diekman beaned Blackmon on the first pitch.

In Lovullo matchup fashion, he gave Diekman the hook to bring in veteran Brad Ziegler to work out of the jam.

The first hitter he faced was LeMahieu, who hit a chopper back at the mound. Ziegler flipped the ball to second to get the easy out, moving a runner up to third and placing LeMahieu on first. On a replay, though, Blackmon was seen raising his arms in the air on his slide into second, potentially making it an illegal slide. This led to a challenge from the D-backs but the play was not overturned. Ziegler voiced his frustrations on Twitter after the game.

He intentionally throws his arms in the air and makes contact with Nick’s left shoulder. You can see Nick’s sleeve move as a result. I don’t know how you miss this. pic.twitter.com/PKRXDThJi0

— Brad Ziegler (@BradZiegler) September 22, 2018

It then fell apart for Ziegler, as David Dahl and Nolan Arenado each drove in a run, followed by a two-run RBI single for Desmond, as the Rockies scored four in the eighth to take a 6-2 lead.

The D-backs would not score in the eighth or ninth, ending the game and putting them in an even deeper hole across the standings.