D-backs hope to stay back on track heading into Padres series - San Diego Union-Tribune

The defending National League champions have won four more games than last year.

However, the Diamondbacks will need to sweep the majors’ strongest team since the All-Star break to secure a spot in next week’s wild-card round.

Any less than that, and the Diamondbacks will need help this weekend from Milwaukee and Kansas City. Or they’ll have to watch TV on Monday when the Mets and Braves play a doubleheader in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

This is where manager Torey Lovullo finds his team as the Padres head into the final weekend of the regular season.

“I think we’re in a good place,” Lovullo told reporters Wednesday night after an 8-2 win over the Giants snapped a three-game skid. “I was in a good place. I just hit a little speed bump.”

The moment was almost catastrophic.

Entering the third inning Sunday morning, the Diamondbacks had won four in a row, built an 8-0 lead in Milwaukee and had a rare four-game sweep in hand. Then the pitching collapsed, Arizona suffered the biggest blowout in franchise history and the fragility of the D’s playoff hopes worsened with Monday and Tuesday’s losses to Bob Melvin’s Giants.

A team that had matched the Padres in the second inning, led the majors in runs scored, was poised to build on last year’s improbable World Series run, was reeling.

Lovullo felt it.

He was ready to play, too, after Tuesday’s 11-0 blowout at the hands of the lame duck Giants.

He then beeped as he walked in for a post-match meeting.

“I could have been critical,” Lovullo told reporters. “I could have flown at them. I was in that area. It’s ugly. But I chose not to because no one had to be unleashed with four days to go. I didn’t have to start identifying guys and targeting guys. So I sat on the high side. Just a reminder, like guys, that’s who we are and those are the ones I liked. It’s okay to feel the way you feel. It’s okay to think the way you think, but I’m betting on you guys. I came here and I bet on you, because I love you and I care about you. But we have to figure out some (issues) and we have to do it now.”

The result was an 8-2 victory fueled by a Zac Gallen gem that gave the Diamondbacks some reassurance before the final weekend of the season.

They are one game ahead of the Braves and in a virtual tie with the Mets for the NL’s second wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks have three games left on the schedule, all against the Padres. The Mets and Braves have five games remaining, with Atlanta hosting the playoff hopeful Royals and New York traveling to Milwaukee.

If playoff spots are still up for grabs, the Mets and Braves will head to Atlanta for a doubleheader on the eve of the wild-card round.

With both teams holding ties over Arizona, what they need to get the D-backs seems to get exponentially worse with every loss they have against the Padres.

To date, the Padres and Diamondbacks have split the first 10 games of the season.

And while for the longest time it looked like the Padres and Diamondbacks decided to win and lose on the same days since the All-Star break, Arizona falling back to earth a bit this month allowed San Diego to reach the the top of the ranking. wild card standings.

After July (17-8) and August (18-9), the Diamondbacks are 12-11 in September, thanks in large part to a pitching staff that has seen its ERA rise to a career-worst 5.56 this month in major competitions.

Gallen is apparently off the table after starting Wednesday. Merrill Kelly, coming off a start in which calf cramps forced her out in the sixth, starts Friday’s opener. After that, the Diamondbacks look to choose between Jordan Montgomery (6.62 ERA in September) and Eduardo Rodriguez (6.00 ERA in September) on Saturday, with Brandon Pfaadt (8.31 ERA) slated for Sunday.

Right-hander Ryne Nelson (5.56 ERA in September) should return from shoulder inflammation to pitch at some point in the series.

Either way, it’s the Diamondbacks offense that may have to carry the load.

Ketel Marte leads the team with 35 homers and a .934 OPS, and four others — Eugenio Suarez (29), Christian Walker (26), Joc Pederson (23) and Corbin Carroll (21) — have more than 20 home runs. NL Rookie of the Year Carroll has rebounded since the All-Star break (.920 OPS, 16 HR) after a poor start (.635 OPS), while Walker has just three homers in 20 games (.749 OPS) of then. returns from its oblique strain.

Former Padres first baseman Josh Bell initially provided a boost at the trade deadline when he arrived from Miami, hitting four home runs in his first 12 games. The then-switch hitter has just one home run in his last 28 games (.684 OPS), but other role players — Randal Grichuk and Pavin Smith both have six homers and an OPS will top 1.000 this month — and- they maintained the potency of the formation.

It’s what Lovullo was selling when he opted to lean into the love side of the tough love he delivered on Tuesday.

“I think we had to prove ourselves to get back on track and find some confidence, some hope,” Walker told reporters after Wednesday’s game. “… I think we checked off a lot of boxes as far as taking some of the load off and taking the pressure off and reminding ourselves how good this offense can be.”

Walker added: “We feel very much in control of our own destiny here. If we play our game and win a few more games, we’ll be in a good place.”

Piqueettrinque

D-backs hope to stay back on track heading into Padres series – San Diego Union-Tribune

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