Arizona increased urgency to 'flush' current rough stretch

PHOENIX -- There is still a lot of baseball left to be played this season, almost two-thirds in fact, but it also is no longer early. And the Diamondbacks need to pick things up if they want to stay in the postseason hunt in the rough-and-tumble National League.

Coming off a road trip in which they beat the Dodgers in the opening game, only to drop the next two of that series, and all three in St. Louis, the Diamondbacks hoped that a return home would provide a bit of a respite.

They had reasons to be encouraged despite the 1-5 record on the trip, as the five losses were by a combined six runs.

Add to that the fact that a Pirates team that had already fired their manager was coming to town, followed by the Nationals, it seemed like a chance for Arizona to get on a roll.

But after a win in the first game of the series, it was the Diamondbacks who got rolled as the Pirates rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win, 9-6.

Whether there was a carryover from Wednesday is unknowable, but the D-backs played one of their worst games of the year, falling 10-1, their sixth loss in their last eight games. At 27-29, they are two games under .500 for the first time all year.

It’s been a shocking turn of events and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo could see it on his player’s faces after they trailed 8-0 after six innings.

“Probably in like the seventh inning, I think everybody looked like they saw a ghost,” Lovullo said. “And I don't blame them. I think we were all frustrated, and we got to flush it. We gotta get through it. Thankfully, we have an off-day [Thursday]. I think there was a little bit of a hangover from being six outs away from finishing out a game last night that we couldn't finish out. But we got to flush this. We got to come out here Friday with a new sense of urgency and a new sense of focus.”

One of Lovullo’s greatest strengths as a manager is his ability to communicate with his players. Whether through one-on-one meetings, or the time he spends talking with them in the outfield during batting practice, he likes to keep a close watch on the temperature and mood in the clubhouse.

To this point, he hasn’t heard any excuse-making or finger-pointing that could indicate an issue there.

“I think the clubhouse is in a good spot,” Lovullo said. I think they're really, really frustrated and wanting good things to happen immediately, but it's not going to get better until we make it get better. And that starts with me, the coaches all the way to the players. Working through frustration is difficult. At times, you got to slow the game down, know your processes, follow your routine, go out there and execute.

“You guys ask me for answers. I don't know what the answers are. We just got to continue to believe and continue to fight.”

The players can feel the sense of urgency.

“We’ve got to get it in gear,” right-hander Zac Gallen said. “I get that it’s just a third of the season so you don’t want to overreact but time is ticking so we just have to go out there and execute a little better.”