PHOENIX -- When Cody Bellinger walked to the plate with one out in the ninth inning and the D-backs clinging to a one-run lead, manager Torey Lovullo popped out of the dugout and summoned left-hander Andrew Chafin from the bullpen.
With closer Archie Bradley unavailable due to his recent workload, Lovullo had planned before the game to use Chafin against the lefty-swinging Bellinger if at all possible.
The move looked good on paper, with Bellinger just 3-for-16 in his career against Chafin, but this time around, he launched a game-tying homer to force extra innings in what would become a 4-3 D-backs loss in 11 innings.
“It was clear to me Bellinger was sitting on a slider,” Lovullo said. “He wasn’t coming off of it. He got three of them, and Andrew just made a mistake in the middle of the zone. A hitter that’s got [43] homers is going to do that. He’s going to make you pay for that mistake.”
There’s no escaping the fact that the loss, which snapped a season-high six-game winning streak, was a heartbreaker for the D-backs. They missed a chance to pick up another game in the race for the second National League Wild Card spot, as they remained 3 1/2 games back of the Cubs, who lost to the Brewers.
Had they pulled out a win, it would also have been Arizona’s first-ever sweep of the Dodgers in a four-game series.
“Obviously, a tough loss,” infielder Jake Lamb said.
While Lovullo acknowledged the disappointment, he also wants his team to focus instead on the fact that they had won six in a row before that and took three of four from the Dodgers.
“I want to make sure we focus on what’s really happening in there,” Lovullo said. “We’re in a really good spot and playing really good baseball. I don’t want this outcome to change anything. I won’t let it. My intentions are, we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to play our best baseball for the remainder of the season. So that’s where we’re at right now inside of that clubhouse.”
The D-backs have 25 games remaining, starting Monday with the opener of a three-game series against the Padres, and only seven of them are against teams currently with a winning record.
Arizona has nine games left against the Padres, six with the Reds, four with the Mets and three each with the Marlins and Cardinals. If any team can rebound from a tough loss, it’s the D-backs, who have the second-most one-run losses in the NL this year with 23.
“I feel like every game we’re in we think we’re going to win the game,” outfielder Tim Locastro said. “And I think that’s the attitude in this clubhouse, and down the road during the stretch we’re going to continue that.”
All four of the Dodgers runs came on solo homers, with Joc Pederson’s pinch-hit blast to open the 11th against Taylor Clarke proving to be the deciding blow.
“I think Pederson was sitting dead red off of [Clarke],” Lovullo said. “Maybe spin a breaking ball and have a totally different outcome. But like I said, I can live with that. It’s four solo home runs.
“In one game, that doesn’t happen very often. Our pitchers pitched their butts off today. I want them to digest it, spit it out and get ready for tomorrow. We have to turn it around. There’s no space for a dud. We have to get after it.”