This week in San Diego, the Arizona Diamondbacks offence scored just seven runs in three defeats. So, before Friday's first game of a three-game series against Detroit, manager Torey Lovullo spoke on how his batters might improve at the plate.
He advised them to avoid chasing pitches outside of the strike zone. And when they do get pitches to hit, they must capitalise.
The Diamondbacks accomplished none of these on Friday night. Instead, they managed just three hits, scored one run, and were defeated by the Tigers, 5-1. They have now scored less than one run eight times this month. Since June 1 they have a 7-14 record, which is no coincidence.
Lovullo said after the game, "We need to sort it out." Every day, we must find a way to get outside and do something positive.
If there was any reason for Arizona's problems in San Diego, it was that each Padres starter had a sub-4.00 ERA and was an experienced big leaguer. The Tigers, meanwhile, sent out Rony Garcia, a reliever who was catapulted into the rotation because to injuries. Before Friday, in seven career starts, he had a 6.83 ERA.
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Garcia's batting line vs the Diamondbacks? Five and one-third innings, three hits, and one run.
"You anticipate scoring runs against an unproven pitcher," Lovullo said. We might have exploited some of his weaknesses, despite the fact that he had a number of strong assets.
Friday, the Diamondbacks seemed to take advantage of Garcia for three hitters. Daulton Varsho was hit by a pitch, and Ketel Marte walked on a full count, loading the bases with one out for Christian Walker.
Walker has been one of the most dangerous power hitters in baseball this season, but he started the day swiping.
130/.228/.275 in scoring position. After the game, Lovullo said, "there's definitely a little more pursuit in such situations."
In the first inning, precisely that occurred. Walker took a 1-1 sinker off the inside half of the plate and grounded weakly to second, facilitating a simple double play.
"We had the right player in the perfect position, but he pursued an inside ball," Lovullo said.
The Diamondbacks wasted other opportunities as well.
They had runners on the corners with one out in the fourth inning. After Carson Kelly popped out to left field on a middle-of-the-plate fastball, the only damage done was a single run scored by Josh Rojas on a sacrifice fly. Lovullo emphasised the inning as a chance to accomplish more.
In the sixth inning, they chased Garcia with a walk and then drew six consecutive balls from reliever Alex Lange, forcing a mound visit in the middle of the at-bat. David Peralta struck out on the following three pitches after the stoppage. A pitch later, Rojas grounded out to first, again leaving two runners on base.
Second baseman Jake Hager, who went 0-for-2 with a walk, said, "We're just going through a period where the bats aren't doing anything." "However, a little spark is all we need; we must string together a few massive strikes."
On Friday, this did not occur, creating a precarious position for Merrill Kelly, who had to pitch flawlessly to preserve the Diamondbacks' hopes. In general, Kelly replied with a terrific performance. Even the seven hits he allowed were mostly unlucky singles.
However, there was one major exception. In the third inning, with the bases loaded, he worked a 1-2 count on Javier Baez, who swings at pitches outside the strike zone more often than all but one other hitter in the league — as he did on the 1-1 pitch, a curveball far beyond the strike zone.
"We are all aware of his scouting report," Lovullo stated. "... A free swing"
After the success of his earlier curveball, Kelly threw another. Again, it should have been outside the zone. In the ground, far away, "just about anyplace outside the zone," Kelly said.
Instead, he draped it across the centre of his knees. Baez returned the ball 459 feet to left-center field, the longest home run of the year for the Tigers.
Kelly said, "Two strikes to him, it must be a chase pitch." I just left it up, and he did not miss it.
With Arizona's offence experiencing its worst run since April, this was all Detroit needed.
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