'In this together,' D-backs aim to correct woes

May 22nd, 2021

Not even a visit to Coors Field could get the D-backs’ bats going on Friday night, as they dropped their sixth straight game by falling to the Rockies, 7-1.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo tried to find some positives from the game, something for his players to build on for the next day, but it's getting harder to do as the losses pile up. Arizona has dropped 10 straight road games and 15 of 18 overall.

"I think if you look under the hood, we did several things well today that we haven’t been doing the last several games," Lovullo said. "We had leadoff runners on base four of the first seven innings. We created a little bit of traffic. We had run-scoring opportunities early. We had run-scoring opportunities in the eighth inning. Those are the encouraging things."

Making his second start of the year, right-hander Seth Frankoff was not sharp with his command early, and the Rockies made him pay. Frankoff allowed three runs in the first, including a two-run homer to Ryan McMahon. Then, Colorado added two more runs in the second on a Raimel Tapia home run.

But the D-backs' losing streak is not about the pitching staff. It's about an offense that has struggled in many areas.

"Not enough runs on the scoreboard," shortstop Nick Ahmed said. "We’re struggling to get guys on base early in the innings. We’re struggling to have quality at-bats. We’re struggling to get [runners] in from third and in from scoring position. We’re struggling to get big hits early and late in the game.

"I feel like we had better at-bats today. I don’t know how many times we lined out today, but several guys barreled the ball up on a line and didn’t get rewarded for some of them. But we struggled a lot."

Of particular concern is the D-backs' inability to deliver with runners in scoring position. They were 1-for-10 in those situations Friday and are 3-for-28 through the first five games of the road trip, which also included four against the Dodgers.

It's added up to seven runs in Arizona's past six games. And it has taken a toll on Lovullo.

"I’m losing sleep at night and doing all the things that every fan across the Valley is probably doing with me," Lovullo said. "I just know one thing, and that’s to get back on that saddle and keep riding. That’s my message every single day.

"The players are fighting and grinding, too. We’re all in this together. How frustrating is it? You can’t imagine. We have to deal with that. We have to embrace it and understand why it happens and take a deep dive into making sure that we do our job and double-check our work. That’s what I do every single day when I come to work."

Injuries have taken out several players who the D-backs were counting on to lead them offensively. Outfielder Kole Calhoun, first baseman Christian Walker and catcher Carson Kelly are among those currently on the injured list.

Meanwhile, center fielder Ketel Marte just returned from a six-week IL stint and is still getting back in the groove.

"I’m not going to talk about [the injuries] or use that as an excuse," Ahmed said. "We’ve got Major League Baseball players here in our clubhouse. Every team deals with injuries to a certain degree at some point in the year. We’ve got a good team. We've just got to go out and be better.

"We know what we’re capable of. We know we’re not playing up to our potential and the ability that we have, myself included. Put myself at the top of the list. It’s just extremely frustrating knowing you’re better than you’re playing. It’s not for lack of effort by myself or anybody else. We’re all doing our best to make the adjustments and execute. We’re just not doing it right now.”