Diamondbacks’ pitching problems persist in critical series loss to Dodgers

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks scored 48 runs over their seven-game homestand for an average of 6.86 runs per game, and yet, the club finished 2-5 after an 11-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

The D-backs (77-61) dropped three of four games against the Dodgers, falling to six games back of the National League West lead with 24 contests remaining.

The Dodgers (83-55) knocked D-backs starter Eduardo Rodriguez out of the game after four innings and three earned runs (92 pitches) on Monday. Down 6-3 in the eighth, the D-backs opted to stay away from their A-Team bullpen and kept Slade Cecconi in to face the top of the order with two outs and a runner aboard.

Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman compiled a walk, double and home run, respectively, to break the game open.

A comparable choice was made in Friday’s series opener, as Arizona turned to Paul Sewald instead of a high-leverage reliever while down 6-5 with two runners aboard and one out in the seventh inning. Sewald allowed a three-run homer, and Arizona lost 10-9.

“I wanted to make sure that before I started to use that type of reliever (such as A.J. Puk), that we were in a certain range,” manager Torey Lovullo said on Monday. “We were getting close, but we hadn’t got quite into that range.”

D-backs skipper Torey Lovullo on what frustrated him most about Monday’s loss to the Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/HCGb9AII5c

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 3, 2024

Tough starts

Rodriguez, in only his fifth start of the year due to shoulder issues, stranded runners in scoring position in three of the four innings to at least keep the deficit manageable early.

Putting hitters away, however, was a struggle. The Dodgers averaged 4.6 pitches per plate appearance against him, and when he missed over the middle on a slider, Freeman belted his first homer in the third inning. Rodriguez left the game with a 3-1 deficit.

Take out Ryne Nelson, who issued the sole quality start of the seven games, and Arizona starting pitchers accounted for 30 innings and 26 earned runs for an ERA of 7.80 this past week at Chase Field (Brandon Pfaadt was an out away from a quality start on Sunday).

“Just get ready for the next one, work on your pitches, work on everything and turn the page,” Rodriguez said of the rotation.

“As a starting pitcher you know you’re gonna have ups and downs and back-to-back good ones, like four or five good ones, so you just gotta bounce from the bad one and get ready for next. That’s what it is. You’re never gonna have all good starts, 30-plus starts that are all good.”

Eduardo Rodríguez on the Dodgers running his pitch count up to 92 pitches in 4.0 IP. pic.twitter.com/s8sunMJxTh

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 3, 2024

The Dodgers have the second-highest scoring offense in the NL behind Arizona, but the D-backs expect to be competitive against anyone. By bringing in Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery — who pitched in relief on Monday before getting hit by a comebacker — the Diamondbacks looked to have assembled one of baseball’s most formidable rotations at the start of the year.

Since Merrill Kelly returned from the 60-day injured list on Aug. 11, when the rotation became whole, Arizona starting pitchers have a 5.56 ERA, which is among the five highest in baseball.

“I think everybody, at different times, battles through the course of a long season, and when it’s flowing and the rhythm is good and right, you know what everybody looks like,” Lovullo said. “I just think everybody’s grinding right now. Merrill and E-Rod are on their own island because of their progression, it’s been a little bit different than everybody else. I think they’re going to have some days where it’s going to be a fist fight, and that’s what was going on with Eddie today. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”

Lovullo said before the game Kelly and Rodriguez have elite feel for the strike zone, and losing so much of their seasons to injury requires time to get that proper feel back.

But the D-backs will need a better version of this rotation quickly. They not only lost ground in the division but find themselves in a tighter NL Wild Card race.

Arizona led the New York Mets by seven games before the two matched up to begin the homestand. New York won two of three, then swept the White Sox over the weekend and beat the Red Sox on Monday.

The Mets are the top team on the outside looking into the postseason picture, and Arizona is only three games ahead of them.

Eugenio Suarez rakes

D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a day with three hits, including his 23rd home run of the season.

The offense created a couple prime scoring chances but managed only one run off Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty through 5.2 innings before attacking the bullpen.

Lovullo was particularly frustrated at Jake McCarthy, who attempted to steal second with Josh Bell ahead 3-0 against Flaherty in the sixth inning. Los Angeles led 3-1, and McCarthy was thrown out.

“Running 3-0 basically when you have a red light — I don’t put the red light on, I expect our players to know the situation,” Lovullo said. “We talk about 90 feet in this game, in this organization, we believe in it. But when you’re down 3-1, you basically got to be standing up into the base if you’re going to take that risk.”

Chase Field attendance

The announced attendance for Monday’s Labor Day game was 43,747. All four games brought at least that many fans to the ballpark, including a sellout on Saturday, for an announced total of 186,672.

Diamondbacks-Giants up next

The Diamondbacks head to San Francisco for the first three contests of a six-game road trip. They will visit the Houston Astros over the weekend.

Nelson is Arizona’s probable starter on Tuesday, and first pitch is at 6:45 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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