Orioles wear down Zac Gallen, outpace Diamondbacks
The ball was hit sharp and just to the right of a drawn-in Ketel Marte at second base. Reaching to his right, the ball glanced off his glove and trickled into center field.
Thinking back on the play, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo stopped short of calling it one Marte should have made. What was clear, at least, was that he could have made it, and his inability to do so changed the course of not just the sixth inning on Sunday but what would become an 8-5 loss for the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
For the past two days, the Diamondbacks were not quite good enough to beat the Baltimore Orioles. They could not come through at the plate in enough key situations. Their pitchers could not find their way out of enough tight spots. Their defenders could not make big plays.
Right-hander Zac Gallen struggled for the second consecutive outing, this time giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Corbin Carroll and Christian Walker each connected for solo homers. The bullpen had a rough time in the sixth inning.
“The bottom line is we didn’t do it,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We didn’t execute well enough to keep runs off the board, to put runs on the board. There’s just a lot of identifiable things that I feel like we came close to but didn’t get the job done.”
It added up to the Diamondbacks’ dropping another game and another series to a good team. They have dropped many such games this season, particularly over the previous three months.
After Sunday, the Diamondbacks now have played 78 games against teams with winning records. They have won only 32 of them. Those numbers have only worsened over the past week, in which the Diamondbacks were swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles before they dropped two of three to the Orioles over the weekend.
Their struggles have cost them valuable real estate in the hunt for wild-card spot. Sunday’s loss left the Diamondbacks in a four-way tie with the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins for the third and final wild card.
Gallen pushed back on the idea that putting the Orioles and Dodgers in their rearview mirror could benefit the Diamondbacks going forward.
“As the season goes on, I know we’re going to play some really good teams, as well,” Gallen said. “And those teams are going to be there in October. I don’t think putting them in the rearview is a thing. I think you just use the last couple of series as motivation and understand that we’re still a good team. We just have to work on some things and do a better job.”
The Orioles had a runner on third with one out in the sixth when Lovullo went to his bullpen, calling on lefty Kyle Nelson, and brought in his infield, looking to keep the game tied with lefty Cedric Mullins at the plate.
But when Marte was unable to make the play on Mullins’ sharp grounder, it opened the door for the Orioles to not just take the lead, but to put together their second big inning in as many days.
“Without looking at it (on replay), I feel like I’ve seen Ketel make that little handsy play before,” Lovullo said. “That was a key play. That play changed the inning. It changed the trajectory of the entire inning.”
After Ramon Urias followed with a single, Jordan Westburg drove in another run with a double. Then came another double, this one by Adley Rutschman, on another play that could have been made, a ball that glanced off the glove of a diving Pavin Smith at first base and into right field. Two runs scored and the Orioles led, 8-4.
After that, the Diamondbacks managed very little at the plate. For most of the year they had garnered a reputation for having tough at-bats late in games, for never seeming to be out of games. The past week against the Dodgers and Orioles has had the opposite feel; when they have fallen behind in the middle innings, they have barely made a peep.
On Sunday, they got a homer from Walker in the ninth — his 30th of the year, making it back-to-back years with at least 30 homers — but had little else to show for the final four innings’ worth of at-bats.
“I think we’re giving away some at-bats,” Lovullo said, “with early-count contact with men in scoring position. I might be overly critical, but I just know we’ve had the right guys up, in the right situation, in the right spots, and there have been some quick, first- and second-pitch outs. I think you’ve got to get some count leverage and get deep into counts. That’s what all successful teams do with runners in scoring position.”
How the Diamondbacks fare against good teams could be a focus over the season’s final month of games. With 25 games left, the Diamondbacks have 13 remaining against under .500 teams and 12 against over .500 teams.
If they play against those types of teams the way they have throughout the season, they would win eight more games against the bad teams and only five more against the good ones. That would get them to 83 wins; whether that is enough to reach the postseason remains to be seen.
—Nick Piecoro
Tommy Pham scratched from DBacks’ lineup
Diamondbacks outfielder Tommy Pham was scratched from Sunday’s lineup, and the club said shortly after the game began that it would provide an update on his condition postgame.
A team spokesperson said Pham was “still being examined,” offering no other information on his condition.
Pham, who was slated to serve as the designated hitter, was replaced in the lineup by Evan Longoria.
—Nick Piecoro
Christian Walker out of Diamondbacks' lineup after hit by pitch
Christian Walker is not in the Diamondbacks' lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Orioles, although he could be available off the bench. Walker exited Saturday's 7-3 loss in the fifth inning after he was struck on the right elbow by a Kyle Bradish sinker two innings earlier.
After the game, manager Torey Lovullo described Walker as day-to-day, though both he and Walker made it sound unlikely that the first baseman would be in the Diamondbacks' lineup Sunday. Walker reported feeling pain in his fingers due to the nerves that were struck by the pitch, although he said the pain had eased by Sunday morning.
In Walker's place, Pavin Smith is playing first base and batting sixth. It is the first time Walker has been out of the lineup since Aug. 2. He has started 75 of the Diamondbacks' past 76 games. Because of that workload, Lovullo had been searching for a rest day for Walker even before Saturday's hit by pitch.
—Theo Mackie
Sunday's Diamondbacks-Orioles pitching matchup
Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (14-6, 3.32) vs. Orioles RHP Jack Flaherty (8-8, 4.73).
Gallen struggled in his last start, allowing four home runs as the Dodgers scored six runs off him in 5 1/3 innings. It was the fifth time this season that Gallen has allowed five earned runs, putting a dent in his NL Cy Young hopes. ... Despite the performance, Gallen is among the top three favorites for the award, behind San Diego's Blake Snell and Atlanta's Spencer Strider. ... Gallen finished August with a 3.19 ERA, his best mark in a month since April. ... Flaherty arrived in Baltimore from the Cardinals at the trade deadline. He has a 6.41 ERA in four starts for the Orioles, although that mark is bloated by a game against the Padres in which he allowed seven runs in three innings. ... In his last start, Flaherty allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Rockies, though he struck out just three.
Coming up
Monday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (10-5, 2.97) vs. Rockies TBA.
Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-7, 6.21) vs. Rockies TBA.
Wednesday: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies (2-5, 6.45) vs. Rockies TBA.
Diamondbacks-Orioles series
Friday's game: Gurriel, Walker power Diamondbacks' win
Saturday's game: Orioles blow open game with six-run fourth inning
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Orioles wear down Zac Gallen, outpace Diamondbacks
