Diamondbacks rally late, beat Padres to return to .500
The Diamondbacks looked like their old selves on Sunday afternoon, rallying from an early deficit to come back to beat the San Diego Padres. If their 5-4 win — and the series victory it secured — ends up turning around their season, the Diamondbacks might reference a pair of meetings that preceded it.
After they dropped the series opener on Friday, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was said to have delivered a passionate and expletive-laden message to his team in the postgame clubhouse.
A day later, during the usual pregame hitters’ meeting, players spoke freely amongst themselves, with comments from first baseman Christian Walker and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo among those that stood out most, at least to outfielder Alek Thomas.
“I felt like the vibe definitely shifted after that meeting,” Thomas said. “We didn’t even go over the pitcher.”
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Whether it was those meetings or just that they were facing a mediocre Padres team, the Diamondbacks managed to get themselves back on track with wins the past two days. They beat the Padres, 3-0, on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, they fell behind 3-0 in the first but chipped away before eventually tying the game at 4 in the seventh on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s pinch-hit, two-run homer.
The Diamondbacks moved ahead for good on Thomas’ sacrifice fly to center in the eighth, an inning that began with back-to-back singles from Walker and Gabriel Moreno.
“Guys were engaged and we felt a different vibe in the dugout and have felt that in the past couple days,” Lovullo said. “This team is smiling again and it gives me a lot of satisfaction.”
Lovullo addressed the team on Friday night after their 10-5 loss to the Padres extended their losing streak to nine.
“You should ask them what the message was,” Lovullo said, when asked for details. “It’s not something I should talk about.”
Said Perdomo: “That was a great meeting. I was almost crying. He spoke from the bottom of his heart.”
Lovullo was said to have had most everyone in the room in his crosshairs.
“Passionate for sure,” Walker said. “There are times when you need the person in charge to be collected and confident and calm. And then there’s other times when somebody needs to get in your ass. I think it’s good to hear some things you don’t want to hear from time to time. I think it can be helpful.”
A day later, Perdomo and Walker spoke during a hitters’ meeting that Thomas said allowed everyone to feel more loose and have more fun.
“Yeah, I said something,” Perdomo said. “I said we just have to have fun. We have to go back to playing like we did the first three months of the season. In the first three months, we had a lot of fun. We had a lot of energy. And we never gave up.”
Walker said his message was more about having a short memory. He referenced situations in the previous night’s game when a blown scoring opportunity felt like the team’s only chance to put runs on the board.
“My message was like, ‘It feels that way not because it’s true. It feels that way because that’s our recent past,’” Walker said. “Early in the year, it was, ‘We’ll get another shot. We’ve still got another at-bat.’
“When runs feel like they’re at a premium you put a lot of pressure on those big moments. It’s hard to execute under that kind of pressure. You’re trying to put the team on your back. It’s hard to do. My message was, clean slate. Control-alt-delete every inning. Restart.”
With the victory, the Diamondbacks have back-to-back wins for the first time since July 18-19 in Atlanta. Sunday’s win moved them back to .500 at 59-59 and pulled them within 2 1/2 games of the third wild-card spot. They are hoping to carry this feeling into their upcoming road trip, which starts on Monday night in Colorado.
“It’ll definitely help us out, confidence-wise, going into Colorado,” Thomas said. “I think we’re going to keep on riding this momentum and continue to do our thing.”
Diamondbacks looking at 'less traditional' answers to rotation woes
The Diamondbacks’ decision to option struggling right-hander Ryne Nelson leaves them with two vacancies in their starting rotation, openings they plan to try to fill in “less traditional” ways, according to General Manager Mike Hazen.
For their upcoming series against the Rockies in Colorado, the Diamondbacks are listing their starters as Merrill Kelly for Monday with “TBA” for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’re going to take some risks and play it by ear, week by week,” Hazen said. “We’re going to figure out some of these spots and try to manage it less traditionally in some ways in the short term and see where that takes us.”
Taking Nelson’s spot on the roster is right-hander Bryce Jarvis. Though he has been a starter throughout his minor league career, he has been pitching in relief in recent weeks in advance of a possible promotion. Hazen said he would be comfortable asking Jarvis to throw between 40 and 60 pitches in an outing, though probably not much beyond that.
Hazen mentioned Jarvis along with left-hander Tyler Gilbert and right-hander Slade Cecconi as options to provide bulk innings in relief.
Right-hander Zach Davies could become another option soon. He is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Triple-A Reno on Tuesday; if all goes well, he could pitch in the majors after that.
Kelly, Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt are the only pitchers with stable spots in the Diamondbacks’ rotation at the moment. Left-hander Tommy Henry had been in that position but is out with an elbow issue.
More Diamondbacks moves: Carson Kelly, Ryne Nelson out, Gabriel Moreno, Bryce Jarvis in
The Diamondbacks made another series of shakeups with their roster on Sunday morning, designating catcher Carson Kelly for assignment and optioning right-hander Ryne Nelson to Triple-A Reno.
Those moves made room for catcher Gabriel Moreno, who was reinstated from the injured list, and right-hander Bryce Jarvis, the club’s top pick from 2020 who was promoted from Reno.
"Carson was somebody that we brought in here that was going to get the majority of the reps, which he did," manager Torey Lovullo said. "We just felt like it wasn’t working on the level we wanted to see. It’s ultimately why the decision was made."
Kelly, a key part of the December 2018 trade that sent slugger Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals, was hitting .226 in 84 at-bats in what has been another injured-plagued season.
In parts of five seasons with the Diamondbacks, Kelly hit just .230/.316/.397. He showed occasional spurts of production but was never able to put it together on a consistent basis.
"He’s been here through some good times, some very good times," Lovullo said. "We’re coming out the other side and want those players that have grinded through those moments who have been here to get those good feelings. That’s what makes those conversations hard. He’s going to find himself in the big leagues again. He’s going to get some reps from another organization. That’s where I get a lot of comfort in knowing he’s going to be a big leaguer again.”
Nelson logged a 5.47 ERA in 24 starts, maintaining a rotation spot despite inconsistent results throughout the year. His past two outings, in which he gave up six runs in three innings each time, were among his worst of the season.
He was sent down specifically to work on his slider, which has been a main point of inconsistency for him. Nelson was one start from being sent down in June, but rallied with six scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers on June 10 and kept his spot in the rotation.
“I challenged him to work with the same intensity that I saw him when his back was against the wall two months ago," Lovullo said. "I want that same fight in Triple-A. If he does it, which I think he will, I think we will see him very quickly.”
Moreno returns after a three-week stint on the injured list due to left shoulder inflammation. The club’s frontline catcher for most of the year, he was hitting .270/.316/.360 before his injury. In a two-game rehab stint with Reno, he went 3 for 6 with a double and a walk.
Jarvis will start out in the bullpen. He had been a starter throughout his minor league career prior to the past two weeks, when he began pitching out of the bullpen for Reno. In 102 2/3 innings this season between Double-A and Triple-A, he posted a 5.26 ERA with 53 walks and 110 strikeouts.
“It’s a great moment that someone who was drafted and developed will call himself a big leaguer. A lot of people spent a lot of time with him and they deserve credit, but he deserves all of it," Lovullo said.
On Saturday, the Diamondbacks sent down third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, replacing him on the roster with infielder Buddy Kennedy.
Coming up
Monday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Rockies RHP Chris Flexen (1-5, 7.92).
Tuesday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (9-5, 3.05) vs. Rockies LHP Ty Blach (1-1, 4.22).
Wednesday: At Colorado, 12:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (6-7, 5.47) vs. Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (9-9, 5.33).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks rally late, beat Padres to return to .500
