D-backs get too little, too late vs. Padres, tailspin continues in 9th-straight loss

PHOENIX — The bats fell silent again as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell to the San Diego Padres 10-5 on Friday at Chase Field.

The D-backs threatened heavily in the first inning with multiple runners on base but only scored one run and they did not record another hit until a solo homer in the sixth frame, allowing San Diego starter Blake Snell to settle in.

“We got beat early and could never really find a footing in the game,” Diamondbacks manager Torrey Lovullo said.

“It was too big of a hole early on,” the D-backs skipper said. “There were some things that went well but overall we just did not get the at-bats we needed to. As far as the at-bats, I look for us to be a little more dynamic.”

Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll walked to open the bottom of the first, Tommy Pham had a fluke fielder’s choice that saw Marte get thrown out at third, Christian Walker doubled and scored one before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a fielder’s choice and Walker eventually got thrown out at the plate on a passed ball a few pitches later.

Similar to how it wasn’t Kyle Nelson’s night out of the bullpen on Wednesday against the Dodgers, Friday was not starter Ryne Nelson’s best performance either.

With a 1-0 cushion — something the D-backs haven’t held since the ninth inning of Sunday’s game against the Twins — Nelson immediately gave up a two-run shot to Xander Bogaerts to give San Diego the lead. Bogaerts finished the night 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

“It was a frustrating one for all of us. The game isn’t treating us very well right now,” Nelson said postgame. “Personally, I feel better than I ever have and it is just not quite shown up. We just haver to keep gunning away at it. As a whole we all know what we need to do.”

A four-run third ended Nelson’s night with three innings pitched, six earned runs, six hits, two strikeouts and one walk.

Despite the short outing, Nelson feels he is at one of the best spots physically of his career. In terms of pinpointing exactly what is going wrong (potentially tipping pitches), the rookie is all ears.

“We talk about tipping pitches a lot. If anybody wants to tell me what I am doing wrong, that would be nice,” Nelson said.

“We can’t figure out if that is the case right now.”

Snell showed why he is a Cy Young Award candidate, escaping the dangerous first inning threat and going on to only allow one more run on a solo homer to Marte in the sixth.

The San Diego pitcher finished the evening with six innings pitched, two earned runs, seven strikeouts and four walks. Snell leads the National League with an ERA of 2.63 but also leads the MLB in walks.

Arizona turned to Slade Cecconi in the bullpen in the fourth, his first appearance since making his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants as a starter.

Between Cecconi, Joe Mantiply, Luis Frias and Tyler Gilbert, the pitchers allowed one run over five innings of relief.

Scott McGough entered the ninth with the team trailing by two. He allowed three runs in the frame, slamming the door on the D-backs’ comeback hopes.

Footnotes

— Arizona had a hard time catching up to Snell’s curveball, recording six of his seven strikeouts on that pitch.

— Padres stud shortstop Ha-Seong Kim doubled in the top of the ninth, extending his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Zac Gallen will take the bump for the D-backs on Saturday as Arizona looks to end its nine game skid at 5:10 p.m. against LHP Rich Hill. Catch all the action on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app and ArizonaSports.com