D-backs find long ball, but drop slugfest to Mets

PHOENIX -- The D-backs liked where they were through six innings on Tuesday afternoon against the Mets.

In front of their third-biggest crowd of the year at 41,670, the D-backs had overcome an early Mets advantage to tie the game at 4. All of their top relievers were available. It was a situation that manager Torey Lovullo would take every time.

“I felt like in a three-inning race we were in a good spot to close it out and put up some runs and win a baseball game with a bullpen that was fully loaded,” Lovullo said. “It just didn't happen that way.”

It sure didn’t.

Instead, the usually reliable Miguel Castro gave up a two-run homer in the seventh, and the Mets tacked on a run in the eighth and ninth as well to give the D-backs an 8-5 loss at Chase Field.

The game was a bit of a home run derby, with each team hitting three. The difference was the Mets had a three-run and a two-run shot to go with a solo homer, while all three of the Arizona long balls were solo shots.

“We couldn’t get that big one with the big slug,” Lovullo said.

The big homer for the Mets was the three-run blast by Starling Marte in the fourth. It especially hurt because there were two outs and starter Zach Davies had 1-2 count on Marte.

With a 1-1 count in the at-bat, Davies threw a changeup down and out of the strike zone that Marte chased for a swinging strike.

“I thought I threw my best changeup there,” Davies said.

Then came a crucial decision for Davies: throw another of his signature changeups or go with a fastball up. With the pitch timer winding down, Davies elected to go with another changeup. This one was not as far down as the other and was slightly inside, and Marte crushed it for the homer that gave the Mets a jolt of energy.

“Just changing eye levels or changing speeds,” Davies said of what he would have done differently in that situation. “It wasn't a strike, but it was kind of in towards his bat path. So you know, a different eye level, a different speed that gets him off of that changeup a little bit and maybe get a different result.”

Those are the unknowables that will keep players up at night reliving situations over and over again.

One thing the D-backs knew coming into the game was that they had to pitch the Mets hitters carefully.

“The Mets are built to slug,” Lovullo said. “They score a lot of their runs via the home run. We’ve just got to be a little more careful. I feel like that critical at-bat, that critical pitch that needed to be made -- we lost that inch today.”

The D-backs had a big chance in the ninth, when Mets manager Buck Showalter went with Drew Smith to start the inning with his team up, 8-4.

Smith gave up a leadoff single and a two-out walk before Showalter summoned closer David Robertson, who gave up a single to Corbin Carroll to load the bases and then forced in a run by walking Christian Walker.

That brought up outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who is in the midst of an outstanding season and was recently voted to the NL All-Star team by his fellow players.

“That was exciting,” Lovullo said. “Gurriel was up there. He’s the right guy in the right spot. He hit it hard. He just hit it right at the shortstop.”

Unfortunately for the D-backs, they have dropped the five best-attended home games this year.

“We hear them” Lovullo said. “We feel their support. I know the guys get real excited. There is such an energy to this stadium. I have always felt, when it’s as full as it was today, that the noise and the excitement and the vibe is pretty special.”