NEW YORK -- Seeing blue and orange in the other dugout has been a bad omen for the D-backs in recent years. Entering Thursday’s afternoon finale at Citi Field, Arizona had an 8-24 record against the Mets since 2018, with New York winning each season series in the past five years. And it’s a lopsided result that manager Torey Lovullo recognized.
“It’s a small concern that we’ve come in here and not played our baseball,” Lovullo said on Monday before the series kicked off. “We know that it’s a very rugged four games here, it’s a well-managed team full of talent, younger talent. … But we know that if we do our thing, we’re going to stay in the baseball game.”
But after taking the series opener, the D-backs dropped three straight to the Mets, including Thursday’s 11-1 loss in the series finale, the club is likely looking forward to getting out of Queens. The only solace likely stems from the fact Arizona did not lose substantial ground with a week filled with pivotal National League Wild Card matchups ahead.
- Games remaining (14): vs. CHC (3), vs. SF (2), at NYY (3), at CWS (3), vs. HOU (3)
- Standings update: The D-backs (76-72) have the same record as the Reds (76-72), as both battle for the No. 3 spot in the NL Wild Card. They are a half-game ahead of the Marlins (75-72). The Giants (75-71) had their scheduled game against the Rockies on Thursday postponed; the D-backs are 5-6 vs. San Francisco this season, with an upcoming two-game set which will determine the tiebreaker. The D-backs trail the Cubs by 2 1/2 games for the No. 2 spot.
“They beat a couple of really good pitchers, and soundly,” Lovullo said. “So, we got to regroup the troops -- we’re coming home. … There’s very little wiggle room and I want us to be ready to go tomorrow, which I think we will.”
It was a mixture of a tough day on both sides of the ball -- the oft-reliable Merrill Kelly suffered a couple blips that led to big innings and the offense was unable to muster anything against Kodai Senga, notching just two hits in six innings against the rookie while striking out 10 times. It wasn’t until Jake McCarthy’s RBI double in the eighth inning that the D-backs were able to break through against the Mets’ arms.
Kelly started off extremely strong, retiring the side in order through the first two frames. But he ran into trouble when he walked each of the three batters at the bottom of the Mets’ lineup to begin the third. Brandon Nimmo delivered a two-run double to open the scoring, but Kelly was able to tightrope out of trouble by inducing three groundouts to keep the D-backs’ deficit at 2-0.
“I think every starting pitcher has a road bump in their start -- so I felt like it was something that [Kelly] wiggled out of,” Lovullo said. “And he was going to get on a run and get on his way. … And I’ve seen him have a batter or two where there's some misfires and then he gets on a roll. I thought that was going to be the case.”
The Mets rattled off a five-run fifth inning off of Kelly, with three consecutive run-scoring hits by the middle of the order, punctuated by Jeff McNeil’s two-run homer. The righty, who entered Thursday fourth in the NL in ERA, went five innings and gave up seven runs on six hits, walking four while striking out seven.
Velocity on five of Kelly’s six pitches was down from its yearly average, but Kelly did not cite any mechanical or physical factors for the blips. For him, it boiled down to ill-timed mistakes.
“Just didn’t execute,” Kelly said. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t take advantage of those two games that we won in Chicago, that we couldn’t come in here and pick up at least two. That’s the most frustrating part, especially because today falls on my head. I definitely take responsibility for how the game went today.”
With 14 games left, the D-backs are looking to flush a tough four-game set in which they were outscored 28-10. And with their next two series against the Cubs and Giants, two teams who are involved in the dogfight for the final two NL Wild Card spots, there’s a semblance of being able to control their own destiny.
It’s a cliché, but from this point, every game matters.
“It’s really just about winning at this point,” outfielder Alek Thomas said. “We just need to put at-bats together to put ourselves in a good position to win the ballgames. … Hopefully when we get back home, we can get a fresh new start and [begin] to play the way we’re supposed to.”