D-backs continue to struggle with bases loaded

The Diamondbacks were down by three runs on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays when Paul Goldschmidt stepped up in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out.

They failed to plate a run in the inning.

Goldschmidt swung at all five of the pitches he saw, fouling off four and eventually striking out. David Peralta followed by grounding into a double play.

“We couldn’t have set it up any better in the ninth,” D-backs manager Chip Hale told the media after the 6-3 loss. “Those are the guys you want up there. It just didn’t work today.”

Goldschmidt commended his teammates for getting on base.

“We did a decent job of getting some guys on, had a chance there at the end,” Goldschmidt said. “I didn’t come through. Overall, pretty good job, but just weren’t able to get a few more runs like we needed.”

It wasn’t the first time the Diamondbacks failed to come through with the bases loaded. Arizona hitters are hitting just .159 (7-for-44) with the bases loaded this year, the third-worst clip in baseball. With runners in scoring position, their .227 average is the league’s sixth-worst. Those averages are particularly bad from a team that otherwise has the league’s ninth best team average at .262.

Four players – Nick Ahmed, Chris Owings, Goldschmidt and Chris Herrmann – have combined for 6-for-15 (.400) with the bases loaded this year. Owings and Goldschmidt each have five RBI in those situations, as Owings has gone 2-for-4 and Goldschmidt has gone 2-for-6.

The rest of the team has gone 1-for-29 (.034).

The D-backs have, however, done a good job of running up opposing pitch counts with the bases loaded. They’re seeing an average of 4.15 pitches per plate appearance when the bags are juiced, the fourth highest number of its kind in the major leagues behind the Rockies, Reds and Indians.

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