The D-backs headed back to Phoenix on Thursday a bruised (literally) and battered group, hoping that a return home would prove rejuvenating.

A 7-3 loss to the Rockies on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field gave the D-backs a 2-5 record on a road trip that saw them place two of their better players on the injured list (Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed) and another on the restricted list (Chris Devenski). They also removed a pitcher from the starting rotation (Caleb Smith).

• Box score

"Overall, I feel like we’ve got to do everything better," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "We’ve got to hit better; we’ve got to pick up the baseball better; we’ve got to pitch better. We will. Tomorrow is a new day. We're coming home, and we're all excited about that."

Here are three takeaways from a rough opening road trip:

1. The injuries are piling up
The D-backs have talked a lot about building depth to withstand injuries, but it's hard to plan for losing as many players this early in the season. It's especially hard to overcome the loss of Marte.

The center fielder is the team's best player, and he was off to an outstanding start at the plate, looking more like the Marte who finished fourth in the National League MVP Award voting in 2019 than the ’20 version.

• Marte lands on injured list

It's possible that Marte's strained right hamstring won't keep him out longer than 10 days. If it lingers, the D-backs will be in trouble.

Arizona does have some options in center, including Tim Locastro, but none will bring as much to the table as Marte.

The D-backs had hoped to avoid an injured list stint for Marte, but he was looked at by the Rockies' team doctor Thursday, and the decision to put him the IL was made.

"With Ketel going down, it obviously stings," veteran catcher Stephen Vogt said. "You know, we still feel like we've got the people in the room that we're going to rally around each other and step up."

2. Rough trip for starters
Merrill Kelly, allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits over six innings on Thursday, a continuation of struggles by the rotation.

Taylor Widener, who will start the home opener Friday night, is the only starter who pitched really well on the trip. He held the Padres scoreless for six innings on Sunday.

The other starters combined to allow 26 earned runs in 29 2/3 innings, and Smith pitched poorly enough that the D-backs elected to remove him from the rotation after his first start of the year.

Kelly, who was the team's second-best pitcher behind currently sidelined Zac Gallen last year, has an 8.10 ERA in two starts.

"I can't speak for the other guys," Kelly said. "I'm obviously not happy with the first two games for myself. Widener did a great job. We needed that. We needed that game in San Diego, and he stepped for us big time.

"Obviously, we would like to get off on a better foot. But we’ve got a long way to go. I’ve got complete faith in myself and the rest of our guys that we'll pick things up and things will progress."

3. Key performers need to pick it up
With Marte, Ahmed and right fielder Kole Calhoun on the injured list, the D-backs are without three of their big bats.

That puts even more pressure on veterans David Peralta, Christian Walker and Eduardo Escobar to pick up the slack.

So far, though, the trio is 11-for-80 (.138).

Rockies starter Jon Gray carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning Thursday, and Arizona's offense was shut out at Coors Field on Wednesday night for just the second time in the first 202 games the franchise has played there.

"I'm seeing the same game you are, but I'm seeing guys that are swinging at pitches in the zone," Lovullo said. "Our chase rate is down [from last year]. I just think that we're going to do a better job of teeing off on the ball that we're looking for.

“Right now, we're just not catching that ball right, but our guys are ready."