ANAHEIM -- If frustration were a quantifiable stat like home runs or strikeouts, the Diamondbacks would likely rank near the top of the leaderboard this season.
After a 6-5 walk-off loss to the Angels in Friday’s series opener at Angel Stadium, the D-backs have now lost by one run in three of their last four games, and 19 total times this season, tied for the third most in the Majors. The latest defeat drops them to 46-49, and with only two games to go until the All-Star break, it secured a below-.500 record at the season’s midpoint.
“It’s how it is right now for us, nothing’s easy,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “Nothing is flowing the way we want it to. At the end of the night, we’ve got to make sure we’re leaving it all on the field, and I think that’s what the guys are doing.”
On Tuesday, the D-backs fell 1-0 to the Padres thanks to two home run robberies by San Diego’s talented outfield. On Friday, Arizona bounced back from a 4-0 deficit in the first inning, and evened the score again in the eighth, only to give it away in the next frame.
“Some tough losses, but I think the guys are battling,” said starter Ryne Nelson. “Guys are coming in every day trying to scrap and claw and do everything we can to win, and I think that’s what it’s going to take down the stretch. I don’t think the record right now really shows what we have in this locker room.”
Nelson himself showed some fight in the loss, bouncing back from a 35-pitch first inning in which the Angels sent all nine batters to the plate. After giving up five hits in the first, including two homers, Nelson would go on to pitch three more innings and only surrendered two more hits.
“I was proud of the fight,” said Lovullo. “I was proud of the way we fought, we didn’t shut down after that first inning, and Nelly had to grind it out.”
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Arizona continues to hit. The D-backs rank third in MLB in home runs (139), fifth in OBP (.328), third in slugging percentage (.446) and third in OPS (.774). On the current road trip, the offense has collected at least eight hits in four out of five games.
Randal Grichuk pieced together his best game of the season on Friday, hitting a pair of home runs -- a 430-footer and 411-footer -- along with a double, for his second three-hit game this year.
After hitting .291 with an .876 OPS last season, Grichuk has seen a slower start to the ’25 campaign, slashing .241/.281/.468 (.749 OPS). If his bat gets going, it would pay dividends for the D-backs’ offense.
“Good hitter, really good player,” said Lovullo. “Two real good swings, both of them got us back into the game. ... I’m obviously a big believer in what he’s capable of doing, and getting him moving in the right direction, getting him consistent at-bats is all I can do. When I do that, he goes out there and becomes very productive.”
Grichuk, who was drafted by the Angels in the first round in 2009 and played for them briefly in ’23, said he always looks forward to returning to Anaheim.
“Being drafted here and being able to play here in the big leagues a little bit, it’s kind of funny to come back, kind of where it all started, in a sense,” he said. “It’s always a trip that I look for when the schedule comes out.”
But of course, he and his teammates would rather celebrate his two-homer night with a win.
“The owner, the GM, the president, everybody that spent a lot of money on this team, and we haven’t performed how we’re supposed to, it’s kind of frustrating.” said shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. “... We made the World Series in ’23, we were down [shortly after] the All-Star break by four games, so I think we have a chance. We still believe.”
Lovullo said he hopes his players use their frustration as fuel for a better second half.
“When the All-Star break happens, we’re going to be under .500,” he said. “Maybe it’ll create a little bit of a fire, a little bit of curiosity as to where we can take this thing.”