What went wrong for Jordan Montgomery, Diamondbacks in loss to Dodgers

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo sat down in the interview room and said nothing went the way they expected after an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday at Chase Field.

Coming off a dramatic walk-off win in Tuesday’s bee-delay game, the Diamondbacks (14-18) looked to ride the wave with starter Jordan Montgomery ready for his first home start since signing a $25 million contract.

The Dodgers (20-13), instead, punched across five runs in the second inning and chased Montgomery after three, while Arizona’s bats got nothing going against L.A.’s $300 million arm Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Arizona had not lost a game by more than five runs this season.

“This game had a different rhythm and a different flow than we were used to,” Lovullo said. “Jordan is usually very quick, gets us back in the dugout, and we just couldn’t get out of first gear.”

Jordan Montgomery frustrated vs. Dodgers

Montgomery was warm and ready to go Tuesday, but the club decided after a nearly two-hour bees delay not to have him get ready again.

The veteran southpaw did not use this as an excuse, instead pointing to command issues with the fastball and lack of curveball shape.

“Today was my day to take the ball. Yesterday was but it didn’t work out, so I was excited to get out there today and just didn’t really have good stuff,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery had been efficient and effective with two quality starts on the road trip, and he induced a 1-2-3 first inning against the top of the Dodgers order — with Shohei Ohtani on the bench.

The wheels started to tremble on a one-out walk to Kiké Hernandez in the second inning followed by an eight-pitch at-bat against Andy Pages, which he capped with a home run. Montgomery threw a changeup below the knees that Pages golfed out. Montgomery said his changeup was “cutting” more than he’d like.

Andy Pages rakes! pic.twitter.com/fenpyFSXNG

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 2, 2024

“I mean, it was probably a ball-and-a-half under the zone, which is usually a pretty safe spot, but if I’m cutting it, it’s right into their bat path.”

Another walk, an Austin Barnes double and a Mookie Betts single ballooned the score. Will Smith went yard on a changeup to lead off the third, and Montgomery finished with 63 pitches.

“It’s a long season, you’re gonna get got,” Montgomery said.

Jordan Montgomery is not using yesterday as an excuse for today’s frustrating outing. pic.twitter.com/SruwJtuJNf

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 2, 2024

Lovullo said there were no restrictions with Montgomery coming in, that the idea was for him to go 90-100 pitches.

For the second straight game, Arizona needed bulk innings from relievers, but it planned for this. Blake Walston was ready and waiting after getting called up, and his MLB debut helped the D-backs bridge the gap.

Blake Walston makes major league debut

Walston heard his name called and said it was “(expletive) go time.”

The 22-year-old southpaw had three scoreless innings going with three punch outs before finding trouble in the seventh. His day ended after he walked a run in, his third walk of the inning.

He finished with two earned runs, five strikeouts and four walks, a similar ratio from his days in Triple-A Reno. Walston was excited for the opportunity, taking looks around the stadium of 34,088 fans. But he was not satisfied with the performance.

“It’s not one of my best outings,” Walston said. “Wasted too many pitches and got in some counts I was behind in most of the time so, those are some things I can clean up and make the rest of the season a lot easier for me.”

Arizona walked eight hitters as a staff, similar to Monday’s 8-4 loss. Three runners who reached base on balls scored, while two runs were walked in (one overlap).

Lovullo said three things really get his blood boiling: sloppy defense, poor base running and walks.

“I want us to challenge hitters. We have good pitchers who should be challenging hitters,” Lovullo said. “It’s a tough rhythm to the game when you’re just bouncing in and out of the zone, the defense isn’t locked in, it’s just a tough situation for the entire team to walk through. So pitchers need to be better.”

D-backs pitchers ended up throwing 183 pitches, more than 20 per inning. That is the second most pitches Arizona has thrown this season, only trailing an 11-inning game against the Cubs.

It felt like the D-backs were on defense for the entire game, as Yamamoto cruised through six scoreless innings with 94 pitches. Arizona failed to string at-bats together and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Ketel Marte had the only extra-base hit, a double in the first inning of his 1,000th career MLB game. Joc Pederson had three hits, while Corbin Carroll hit a couple balls well as he starts to see more consistent hard contact.

“I thought his Day 1 was a couple of days ago. I think the storm is coming,” Lovullo said of Carroll turning it around (.197 average).

Torey Lovullo is starting to see it turn around for Corbin Carroll. pic.twitter.com/kSRvmWqZc8

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 2, 2024

The Dodgers outscored the D-backs by 11 runs throughout the series with two one-sided victories in their first trip back to Chase Field since the NLDS. The two sides will play again shortly at Chavez Ravine on May 20.

Arizona will host the Padres Friday-Sunday before hitting the road next week.

Slade Cecconi will start Friday, Brandon Pfaadt on Saturday and likely Ryne Nelson Sunday once he comes off the 15-day injured list. Zac Gallen will wait until Tuesday.

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