With All-Star break approaching, D-backs know they need to pick up the pace

PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks have seven games left to play before the All-Star break -- a four-game set against the Padres in San Diego and a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

They enter that stretch with a 44-45 record after losing, 3-2, to the Brewers on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field, still very much in the National League Wild Card race, but facing a key stretch in which they need to show general manager Mike Hazen that they should be buyers and not sellers at the Trade Deadline.

The Deadline this year is Aug. 3, and the Diamondbacks want to make sure that the lead-up to it is far different than it was last year.

Arizona went 9-16 in July last season, including a stretch where they lost eight of nine just before the Deadline, forcing the club to sell.

"Nobody wants to go through what we went through last year," manager Torey Lovullo said. "I didn't like the way that it felt last year, and we had to say goodbye to a lot of really important players. It was a tough month, and I'll remind the guys of that. So, let's grow and learn and not let it happen again, and go on to win some baseball games, because that's what we have to do."

Right fielder Corbin Carroll was around for the pre-Deadline slump last year and is well aware that if the Diamondbacks do not pick up the pace they might once again force Hazen to be a seller rather than buyer.

Carroll said he thinks that last year the team put a lot of pressure on itself heading into the Deadline and it backfired. That doesn't mean, though, that he doesn't see this upcoming stretch as being vitally important.

"I think it's the balance of moving with urgency and just having urgency, but at the same time not trying to force [things]," Carroll said. "I think when you're in that space in this game, it's a bad one to be in. So I would say that's kind of the balance that I feel like we've got to juggle right now."

The Diamondbacks also have to deal with the frustration that they're feeling at the moment, particularly at the plate.

Over the past few seasons, their offense ranked near the top of the league, but this year it's been a struggle to put together a sustained stretch in which they score runs.

On Sunday, Arizona got another excellent performance from Eduardo Rodriguez, who like Carroll, was selected for the NL All-Star team.

Rodriguez allowed just a pair of runs over six-plus innings of work, but again, the lack of offense prevented the Diamondbacks from getting the win.

"I think 'scuffling' would be the word I would use," Carroll said. "I think that we're just not playing the way that we need to play if we want to be in a position where we're gonna do something with this season. I think that's reflected in a number of ways, but at the end of the day, if you look outside of what we did versus the Giants and the Rockies, I think our record kind of does reflect what we've done to this point. I think it's frustrating for everyone in here, because we know there's a lot more than that in this room, and we just need to play better, and it starts with me."