ATLANTA – It’s been a strange month of August for a Diamondbacks team that is fighting for a postseason berth for the first time since they made it to the World Series in 2023.
Arizona (66-58), which is tied for the second National League Wild Card spot, has had to play three of the NL’s toughest teams en route to its 8-6 August record.
Prior to this weekend’s series against the Braves at Truist Park, the D-backs split a four-game series with the Padres (who they are tied with in the NL Wild Card standings) and won a series against the Dodgers (who have an eight-game lead in the NL West), with a somewhat fluky series loss against the last-place Rockies sprinkled in.
The D-backs earned a series win against the NL East-leading Braves with a 10-3 victory on Saturday night.
Arizona has been competitive against the league’s best teams. It’s seemingly a matter of putting all the pieces together – something the D-backs have struggled to do this season – which is exactly what they did to hand Atlanta its fourth series loss at Truist Park this season.
“Everybody in that room believes we can tell a really good story and our journey is very incomplete,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “We have to go out and continue to play good baseball. At our core in this organization are pitching and defense, and we believe in that. We know that keeps us in games. When we combine that with a little bit of slug, it’s a complete effort. I want us to keep making statements with good play.”
On Friday, it was the defense that shone. Brandon Pfaadt delivered seven innings of two-hit ball and Arizona downed Atlanta 2-0, which was just the eighth time the Braves have been shut out this season.
On Saturday, Arizona surrendered two early runs, but the offense erupted for 10 straight runs until Atlanta tacked on a third run in the bottom of the ninth.
The big bopper for the D-backs was 35-year-old Nolan Arenado. The eight-time All-Star went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.
It was Arenado’s second multihomer game this season and the fourth time this year that he’s tallied four or more RBIs in a game. His season high is five, which he achieved on April 13. Arenado hit his 19th and 20th home runs on Saturday, and it’s the ninth time in his career he’s had 20 or more homers in a season.
“I think we can be really good [down the final stretch of the season],” Arenado said. “There’s still some things we can be better at as far as the at-bats and just driving in runners in scoring position. I know, myself, I can be better at that. Our pitching and our bullpen has been phenomenal. Our defense is phenomenal. It sounds crazy, but I still feel like we haven’t clicked together as a group as often as we’d like – like we did today.”
Arizona was also 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position on Saturday. The D-backs were 2-for-30 with runners in scoring position in the three games prior, during which they scored just eight runs.
The one-two punch of Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez, Saturday’s starting pitcher, helped hold a Braves team that averages 4.83 runs per game (sixth most in MLB) to just three runs over 18 innings.
Rodriguez gave up two first-inning runs but allowed just two hits over the next five frames, and his final line was two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks over six innings. Rodriguez’s 2.71 ERA is the ninth-lowest mark among qualified starters.
“Right now, we just go up there and play the game,” Rodriguez said. “We believe in each other. Somebody is going to be a hero. Pitchers, hitters, relievers, defense – we just go out there, and that’s what has been working for us.”
The D-backs have had their fair share of injuries this season. However, there could be some reinforcements back with the squad sooner rather than later.
Outfielder Jordan Lawlar is rehabbing with Double-A Amarillo and has five homers in his past four games, while right-handed pitcher Justin Martinez could be activated in the coming days as he’s back in Arizona after a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno.
“We know we are going to layer in some new athletes here who are getting healthy,” Lovullo said. “We focus on us. We’re a good team, and we know it.”