D-backs can’t overcome Sean Manaea’s 7 no-hit innings in loss to Padres

PHOENIX — It was deja vu all over again for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

In a 3-0 loss to the Padres at Chase Field, the D-backs were once again no-hit by a San Diego starter for six innings for the second consecutive night. This time around, it came from the left arm of Sean Manaea, who finished with seven strikeouts and one walk in seven no-hit innings on 88 pitches (66 strikes).

Arizona has now failed to garner a hit against a starting pitcher in 13 straight innings and has only mustered five baserunners in that span — all via walks.

“I think he was riding his fastball at the top of the zone, he was working the edges — he was pretty good,” manager Torey Lovullo said postgame of Manaea’s outing. “But I think we just weren’t patient through the entire at-bat.

“I think we got into swing mode and he took advantage of our aggressiveness. … You have to stay with your plan. Our plan was to be patient. … We just came out of our plan and got a little too aggressive once we got to that really key point in the at-bat.”

D-backs left fielder David Peralta broke up the Padres’ team no-hitter with a single off San Diego LHP Tim Hill to lead off the eighth inning — marking the second night in a row that Arizona broke up San Diego’s team no-hitter on the first at-bat against the bullpen.

Geraldo Perdomo followed up two batters later with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. And as Lovullo promised pregame, Opening Day hero Seth Beer made an appearance off the bench as a pinch-hitter. But unfortunately for Diamondbacks fans, the lefty was unable to reproduce his magic from Thursday night and flew out to center field to end the inning.

Arizona starting pitcher Merrill Kelly picked up right where he left off after a dominant spring training.

The 33-year-old Scottsdale Desert Mountain High School alumnus threw four scoreless innings in his first start of the season, including striking out seven of the 17 batters he faced on the night. Kelly also only allowed four hits and two walks, as no Padres baserunner ever made it to third base in the first five innings of the ballgame.

“The work that we put in this offseason, tried to clean up the mechanics a little bit and make it a little more efficient,” Kelly said of his fastball velocity hitting 94-95 mph.

“Really just all spring training and offseason I put a lot of work into (my changeup),” he added. “I haven’t been happy with how it’s been looking the last couple of years so that’s defintely an emphasis going into this season and I’m excited to see what it’s doing so far.”

Kelly was pulled after throwing 75 pitches (51 strikes), as Lovullo’s plan is to “clip” his starters near the 80-pitch mark in the first time through the rotation as they continue to get stretched out following a shortened spring training. The manager said that Kelly will probably be in the 85-90 pitch range in his next start.

“It’s hard for me to walk up to him after four innings of shutout baseball and say, ‘That’s it, I have to take you out of the game.'” Lovullo said.

“But that’s where we are, these pitchers understand it. … I thought he was really effective. His stuff was really crisp and sharp, secondary stuff was good. They were checking off some really good pitches but Merrill didn’t back down, he did a nice job.”

The one real mistake on the night for the D-backs came in the sixth inning off the arm of LHP Oliver Perez, who gave up a single to lefty Eric Hosmer and then what ended up being a deciding two-run home run to Jurickson Profar.

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— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) April 9, 2022

A throwing error by Arizona third baseman Drew Ellis brought San Diego’s third and final run home in the eighth, which put the D-backs bullpen on the hook for only two earned runs on the night. J.B. Wendelken, Sean Poppen and Humberto Castellanos combined for 4.1 shutout innings which included three strikeouts and only one walk.

UP NEXT

The D-backs host the Padres in Game 3 of the four-game set at 5:10 p.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Station, with Arizona RHP Zach Davies starting against San Diego RHP Joe Musgrove.

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