Too many walks, not enough knocks: Summing up end to D-backs' streak

WASHINGTON – Rookie Mitch Bratt was touched for four runs in the third inning, and the Diamondbacks went on to lose to the Nationals, 5-3, Saturday at Nationals Park.

The loss evened the series at one game apiece and ended the D-backs’ four-game winning streak.

Here are some takeaways.

Those bases on balls
Making his fourth Major League start, Bratt completed five innings for the first time and threw a career-high 92 pitches. However, the left-hander threw 55 strikes and walked five batters.

“I think I set a lifetime high in walks today,” Bratt said, later adding he was not being facetious. “It’s very uncharacteristic. I think I was trying to be too fine, too cute, make pitches. Just falling behind in counts and shot myself in the foot.”

Bratt survived a one-out walk in the first and a leadoff free pass in the second. But in the third inning, he walked three batters, and two of them scored, one on a two-run double and another on a two-run triple.

“It looked like mechanically, something was a little bit off, and he had trouble making that overall adjustment to get the ball where he needed to,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

Bratt pitched around a leadoff single in the fourth. In the fifth, CJ Abrams smacked a leadoff homer, and Bratt allowed another single before completing his start.

“I think I minimized for the most part pretty well besides that third inning,” Bratt said. “My first time going five innings in the big leagues, so I was happy about that.”

Struggles at the top of the order
Lovullo switched up his lineup, moving Ketel Marte to the cleanup spot and pushing Gabriel Moreno up to third.

“I called [Marte] in, and I just talked to him about it,” Lovullo said. “We had very open and candid conversations, and I talked to him about hitting third or fourth. And he was very receptive to hitting fourth. He can slug the baseball.”

Marte leads the team in homers (18) and is second in slugging percentage (.463).

It was not enough against Nationals ace Foster Griffin. The top four in the order (Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Moreno and Marte) went 1-for-14 with a sacrifice bunt and a hit by pitch. The hit, a two-run single by Moreno in the third, ended badly when catcher Keibert Ruiz threw out Moreno trying for second. It was the second out of the inning, and it brought up Marte with the bases empty.

“That was a very critical mistake there,” Lovullo said. “We’re always looking to take a free 90, but I think we need to be a little bit better out of the box to ensure we’re gonna get that extra base.”

Despite the inconsistencies this season and days like Saturday, Lovullo remains confident in the group.

“I’ll take those top four guys up against anybody. I think we can pound the baseball no matter who’s up on the mound,” Lovullo said. “Overall, I believe in this team’s ability to go out there and score five, seven runs every single night. That’s what we need to get to.”

Bullpen holds the line
For the second straight game, Arizona got three innings of scoreless relief. After preserving the win Friday night, Gerardo Carrillo came on with the D-backs trailing 5-2 and pitched two scoreless innings, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Taylor Clarke worked a perfect eighth.

Carrillo, in his second Major League appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Reno on July 21, allowed a single and a walk to start the seventh. He got Jacob Young to fly out and struck out Daylen Lile. After walking Nasim Nuñez, he retired Ruiz on a ground ball to first.

“It looks like a pretty heavy fastball,” Lovullo said when asked for his early impressions of Carrillo. “The contact doesn’t look like it’s been very aggressive, so maybe a little bit of weak contact. But we like what we see so far.”