ST. LOUIS -- With an offense that had become homer dependent of late, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said the team needed to get back to its philosophy of hitting to all fields.
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The Diamondbacks broke out of their power-reliant funk Saturday with four runs in the eighth inning against the Cardinals. Unfortunately for Arizona, the bullpen struggled once again as the D-backs lost, 6-5, at Busch Stadium. The Diamondbacks have now dropped four straight, with three of those four having been one-run defeats in addition to a two-run setback.
“I know the guys are playing hard, fighting hard, and when you come up on the wrong end of those types of games, it can be deflating,” Lovullo said. “But we'll come out tomorrow and do everything we can to just salvage what we can out of the series and this road trip.”
The eighth-inning outburst was the exact formula that has made the Diamondbacks’ lineup one of the most productive in baseball.
Ketel Marte started the rally with a double followed by Geraldo Perdomo’s third single of the game. Marte scored on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s sacrifice fly and Josh Naylor then tied the game with a two-run triple. Randal Grichuk capped the rally with a bloop double to shallow center field to score Eugenio Suárez and give the Diamondbacks a 5-4 lead.
“I was really proud of the way the guys kept fighting,” Lovullo said. “We got several runs down. We threw four up in the top of the eighth. We just couldn't hang on. So, it's part of the game, but we live in the margins. We live in the small space, and that's what we like. We just got to play a little bit better in those very critical moments.”
The runs were the first scored by the Diamondbacks without the benefit of a home run in four games. More importantly, three of the five hits went the opposite way, displaying the recommitment to that all-fields approach.
“Everybody wants to go up top to hit home runs and drive the ball out of the ballpark, that's great, but good teams are able to be very diverse and beat you in a lot of different ways,” Lovullo said. “So, you got to counterpunch and do what we did today. So, I was very pleased with that effort today.”
But Justin Martinez struggled in his return from the injured list. Making his first appearance since April 30 due to right shoulder fatigue, Martinez allowed two runs in the eighth including a two-out single to Jordan Walker that broke a 5-5 tie.
“I missed my location with Walker, trying to go in with that pitch and it missed right down the middle,” Martinez said. “And that’s what happens when you miss right down the middle in the show, you get hit.”
Still, Arizona’s bats didn’t go down quietly, forcing Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley to throw 31 pitches to close the door. Pavin Smith started the ninth with a pinch-hit single and Perdomo capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a walk. Only a diving stop by Nolan Arenado on a Gurriel grounder kept the Diamondbacks from at least tying the game.
“I thought the Perdomo at-bat really wore him down and was going to set it up for potentially Gurriel and then Suárez,” Lovullo said. “And, you know, there was a really good defensive play that was made by Arenado. It may have saved a run or two, but overall, I felt satisfied with our approach.”
Merrill Kelly settled in after a tough first inning where he allowed three hits including an Iván Herrera RBI single.
Kelly was dominant over the next five innings, retiring 14 straight from the first through the fifth innings and 17 of 18 through the sixth.
But St. Louis finally got Kelly out of his groove in the seventh. Alec Burleson led off with a hit and Arenado worked a 10-pitch walk before Walker ended Kelly’s day with a two-run double.
“Obviously, anytime you got to get through a lineup, the third time is going to be a challenge,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get through it today.”
Grichuk tied the game at 1 with a leadoff homer in the fifth.
“We got to get going,” Lovullo said. “We got to start playing better baseball, winning baseball games. At the end of the day, I'm not overly critical of the wins and losses, and I love winning games, don't get me wrong, but it's how we do it. If we're doing it right, and the D-backs are playing D-back baseball, I can be satisfied. We're getting very close.”