D-backs on the brink after 'pen game unable to contain Dodgers

PHOENIX -- It's been a while since the Diamondbacks had a clunker of a game like Thursday afternoon's 8-0 loss to the Dodgers, and it came at the worst possible time for a team fighting for its postseason life.

The loss, combined with the Reds’ victory over the Pirates, left Arizona a game behind Cincinnati. They’re two games behind the Mets, who beat the Cubs, in the hunt for the final NL Wild Card spot.

The Reds hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks, so it is essentially a two-game lead with three games to play. The Diamondbacks do hold the tiebreaker over the Mets.

Thursday’s game had a weird feeling from the start for the Diamondbacks.

First, they announced after Wednesday night's game that instead of starting ace Zac Gallen on Thursday, they would go with a bullpen game and push Gallen to Friday's series opener in San Diego.

While the Diamondbacks didn't announce the switch until Wednesday night, it had apparently been decided earlier in the week, and Gallen threw a bullpen session earlier in the day Wednesday. With Gallen being pushed back to Friday, Eduardo Rodriguez was pushed back to Saturday, when the Diamondbacks would have needed either a fifth starter or a bullpen game.

"I think Zac could use the extra day of rest," manager Torey Lovullo said. "That was a big piece of the puzzle. Same with E-Rod, and we felt like we were going to need one day of a bullpen outing to pick up the slack, and it was either going to be [Friday or Thursday], and we just thought [Thursday] would be the best opportunity for us to win a baseball game, being able to match up with the guys we have against their team."

Specifically, the Diamondbacks wanted to use left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks as an opener against a Dodgers lineup that typically has left-handed hitters Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hitting first and third, respectively.

But like much of Thursday, things didn't go to plan for the Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers tweaked their lineup slightly, moving Teoscar Hernández to the third spot and hit Freeman fourth. After Beeks retired the side in order in the top of the first, he stayed in to face Freeman to open the second. The first baseman hit a homer to right to open the scoring.

Lovullo then went to right-hander Nabil Crismatt, who was expected to throw the bulk of the innings. He immediately allowed a homer to Andy Pages, and the Dodgers were able to tack on two more runs in the inning.

Given the magnitude of the stakes, Lovullo vowed before the game to have a quick hook with Crismatt if he felt like things were spinning out of control, but that was harder to practice when the Dodgers struck for four runs in the fourth on a pair of two-run homers by Ohtani and Freeman.

"It just happened really quick," Lovullo said.

That was more than enough support for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who held the Diamondbacks scoreless through his six innings.

"This was not a great day for us," Lovullo said. "We just never got anything going offensively. Look, you gotta give Yamamoto a lot of credit. He was attacking the zone, he was pitching backwards with really good stuff, and we just never figured out that part of the puzzle."

The Diamondbacks now head to San Diego for the final three games of the season. Even if they win all three games, their destiny is no longer in their own hands.

"We've just got to go and win some games," shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said. "That's the last three games of the season, and we have to give everything we have [left] in the tank."