PHOENIX -- Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo likes to talk about his team "winning the inch" -- in other words, doing the little things that add up to wins on the field.
Saturday night, the Diamondbacks game with the Rangers turned on less than an inch as a bang-bang play at first base went against Arizona in a 6-2 loss at Chase Field.
The loss, combined with the Padres' win over the Giants earlier in the day, dropped the Diamondbacks to 1 1/2 games behind San Diego for the final National League Wild Card spot.
The Diamondbacks led 1-0 heading into the fifth when everything changed.
With one out in the inning, two runs in and runner at first and second, Corey Seager hit a grounder to first base that Tim Tawa gloved and threw to shortstop Geraldo Perdomo at second for an out, and Perdomo fired back to first, where pitcher Brandon Pfaadt was heading over to cover the base.
Pfaadt caught the ball in time for the out, but the question was whether his right heel was just off the bag or touching it. First base umpire Bill Miller thought it was off and he called him safe. The play was ruled to stand on replay review, meaning there was not enough evidence to overturn it.
“I was pretty confident on what I felt, and I felt like he was out,” Pfaadt said. “That's kind of why I was so adamant on challenging it. And I haven't seen the replay, but I've heard it looks pretty good on our side of things. But it is what it is.”
Lovullo looked at the replay of the play on both a dugout tablet as well as the big Chase Field scoreboard in center.
“It looked like his heel could have been on the bag,” Lovullo said. “But in that case, you got to deal with certainties. I think if he was called out, it would have stood. He was called safe, and I think it stood as a result. So it's one of those things. 50-50 ball, we lost it, and then lost a little bit of focus, and I think the result is what we saw.”
Instead of the inning being over and the Diamondbacks trailing 2-1, things completely unraveled.
Josh Jung singled in a run, Brandon Nimmo doubled home one and Ezequiel Duran capped it with a two-run single. Suddenly the Diamondbacks were down 6-1.
What should have been done differently on that play?
“We had time, the ball was hit hard,” Lovullo said. “You got to find the bag, put your foot on the bag, anchor, and then stretch to the ball. So everything was done perfectly, with the exception of Pfaadt slipping off the bag or moving too far off the bag. I know you guys spent a lot of time watching what we do in Spring Training. We [practice] it. We did it yesterday [pregame] on the field, so we practice it a lot. It just got away from us.”
For his part, while he still thought they got the out at first, Pfaadt took the blame for the runs that scored afterwards.
“I got to be better after that,” Pfaadt said. “We had two outs, so I got to bear down and get that last out, and I need to do a better job on that. I didn't make pitches when I needed to, and they got a lot of momentum on their side in that inning. I probably need to get over there a little bit quicker, but at the end of the day, just whatever they call in New York stands, and I’ve got to take the two outs and get that extra out, get that next guy. So that's what we'll hone in on and be better next time.”