Diamondbacks’ 2 rallies too late in 12-inning loss to Reds

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks (29-35) lost an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel 5-3 in 12 innings to the Cincinnati Reds (23-39) on Tuesday night at Chase Field to bring the D-backs six games under .500 for the first time this season.

But don’t let that scoreline fool you, though, as all eight runs were scored in extra innings after a scoreless nine innings of baseball. And only two of those runs were earned.

In another loss to the Reds in which the D-backs produced in all areas except one, a theme for Arizona this season, it was the bats that failed to match the team’s level of pitching, defense and baserunning.

That’s largely due to the performance of Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, who was practically unhittable in his second consecutive start against the Diamondbacks. And for the second straight time out against the D-backs, Mahle struck out double-digit batters.

Tuesday night saw the right-handed starter strike out a total of 12 Arizona hitters on a whopping 119 pitches over nine shutout innings that only featured two Diamondback baserunners, only one of which even got into scoring position on a Ketel Marte double.

“He was hitting his spots pretty well,” D-backs third baseman Josh Rojas said postgame. “His stuff is pretty good but the last time we faced him, he didn’t have the command that he had tonight. He was hitting every spot, painting corners. You try to jump at a pitch, he’d come just off the corner. He was pretty good tonight.”

Arizona finally got on the board in the bottom of the 10th thanks to a David Peralta RBI double that brought home Marte to tie the game at 1-1. But unfortunately for the D-backs, Pavin Smith and pinch-hitter Jake McCarthy weren’t able to bring Peralta home from third to win the game.

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— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) June 15, 2022

The Diamondbacks were once again able to extend the game to the 12th with some aggressive baserunning with two outs in the bottom of the 11th with Rojas at the plate as the potential winning run.

With Arizona trailing 3-1, two wild pitches during Rojas’ at-bat allowed McCarthy — who would’ve made the game’s final out if it weren’t for a Reds error — and Alek Thomas to come home to score and tie the game at 3-3.

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— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) June 15, 2022

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— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) June 15, 2022

But while the D-backs struggled mightily at the plate, mustering only five hits and going 2-for-12 with RISP in 12 innings, they executed at a high level in the areas general manager Mike Hazen has built this team on: pitching and defense.

Right-handed starter and Gilbert native Zach Davies had another stellar outing — his second in three appearances — that unfortunately resulted in a no-decision. Davies went seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks (one HBP) while striking out seven on 90 pitches (61 strikes).

“I looked up and it felt like we played 15 minutes between their starting pitcher and Zach,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “They both did a really good job of attacking the zone and got some easy outs. It was the seventh inning, we hadn’t been out there that long and things got real exciting in extra innings but unfortunately we couldn’t win the game.”

The Mesquite High School alumnus got some help from the guys behind him, as Marte was able to relay a throw from Daulton Varsho in time to get Kyle Farmer at the plate after Mike Moustakas hit a double off the center field wall.

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— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) June 15, 2022

“I’m just being able to mix speeds, keep hitters off-balance,” Davies said postgame. “Great defense behind me, Thomas in center field running down everything. The relay in the seventh inning that kept us in the ballgame, allowed us to at least have a chance to play in extras and try and win the game.

“But the big thing was really just keeping hitters off balance and trusting the defense behind me is going to do its job.”

Lovullo deployed the bullpen from there, with Noe Ramirez and Joe Mantiply combining for a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively. But with a runner starting on second base for three extra innings, the combination of Mark Melancon (one), Ian Kennedy (two) and Sean Poppen gave up five runs — only two of which were earned.

“The most frustrating part was Davies went out there and threw another gem for us and we couldn’t put any runs across the board,” Rojas said. “That was the most frustrating part.”

UP NEXT

The D-backs will close out the three-game series against the Reds with a matinee matchup on Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. on ESPN 620 AM / 98.7 FM HD-2.

Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (4-2, 2.95 ERA) is scheduled to start against Cincinnati RHP Luis Castillo (2-4, 3.23 ERA).

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