After strong start to 2018, D-backs fail to reach postseason
Sep 23, 2018, 4:42 PM | Updated: 7:00 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks players watch the last out of a basseball game against the Colorado Rockies which officially eliminated them from postseason Sunday, Sept 23, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
(AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ season is over sooner than most had originally thought.
Before the final out in their 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the D-backs were mathematically eliminated from the NL West pennant race following a Dodgers’ 14-0 win over the Padres on Sunday.
With the team’s NL Wild Card fate already sealed, Arizona will be on the outside looking in when October rolls around.
It was an up-and-down season for Arizona, filled with pitching struggles from both the bullpen and starting rotation.
After putting together an 18-7 record in April, the D-backs fell into a hole during the month of May.
In 27 games, the D-backs went from a clear-cut pennant contender to a big question mark. They would win just eight of those games, hitting just .193 with 74 RBI as a team.
The pattern would continue as the D-backs’ lead in the NL West shriveled.
They would win 19 games in June, but fell off the final three months.
Their only winning month of baseball in the last three months was August where they went 14-12. Arizona collapsed in September, winning only five of its 19 games.
Heading into Sunday’s game, the D-backs’ .216 batting average in September was second-worst in the MLB, only ahead of the Miami Marlins.
What had once been the best bullpen in the league amassed a 6.92 ERA, almost a full run higher than the next-worst team.
In a season in which the D-backs won their first nine series of the season, they have yet to win one in September.
Last year, the D-backs got into the playoffs as a Wild Card, beating the Colorado Rockies before losing the NL Division Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0.
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