Opening statement
D-Backs complete sweep of Indians to wrap up 6-1 homestand
What started out with a romp through the showers in a laundry cart for their new manager – and a sudsy beer bath to boot – ended on Sunday with a thunderous, three-game sweep of the defending American League champions and yet another raucous postgame celebration.
It’s been a wet and wild first week for the Diamondbacks and first-year skipper Torey Lovullo, who now own the best record in all of baseball at 6-1 (.857 winning percentage).
“I’m really proud of these guys for that, I really am,” Lovullo said after the Diamondbacks toppled Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in front of 30,191 at Chase Field. “When we were on the backfields in spring training trying to grasp some concepts and to then go out and execute it, it translates onto the playing field right before our very eyes.
“They deserve all this credit because they prepared themselves for this moment, they deserve this moment and it’s not a time for us to get all soft and cozy. We’ve got to keep on grinding away at it and I expect these guys to
“I think we’ve got a very special group here, so it’s good to start off on the right page.” BRANDON DRURY D-BACKS SECOND BASEMAN
do it.”
A noticeably large and loud contingent of Sunday’s crowd was rooting for the Tribe, but at the unexpected rate at which the Diamondbacks are turning heads, don’t be surprised if the Arizona bandwagon begins to swell.
After season-opening series wins against the Giants and now the Indians, the Diamondbacks have matched their best start in franchise history. The 2000 team also started 6-1.
“It’s been great,” second baseman Brandon Drury said. “That’s what we wanted, was to go out and get off to a good start and get things rolling in the right direction. I think we’ve got a very special group here, so it’s good to start off on the right page.
“We’ll just have to take it one game at a time, but we’re excited to be able to get this thing going the way we have.”
A year ago, it took the Diamondbacks 14 games before they chalked up their sixth win. It took them until May 29 before they would clinch their second home series win. They accomplished both in a week this season.
They’ve scored 48 runs, the most in baseball and the most in franchise history after just seven games. They were leading all of baseball in runs, hits, RBIs, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They were hitting an astounding .431 with runners in scoring position and their pinch hitters were batting .545 (6 for 11) with seven RBIs and five runs scored.
Not only that, but they have now won five straight games and will look to continue their winning ways when they begin an 11-day, 10-game road trip that begins Monday afternoon in San Francisco. The trip also includes dates at the Dodgers and Padres, making it even that more important for the Diamondbacks, whose next 20 games are all against National League West opponents.
It figures to be the divining rod that tells the Diamondbacks exactly where they are at.
“Well, I think I know where we’re at right now, believe it or not,” Lovullo said. “I feel good about where we’re at. I feel real comfortable knowing that this team has walked a very fine line in some good and bad moments and come out on the other end as a group. As I’ve said, when you have a lot of critical moments and you walk off a field victorious, I think that builds a lot of great team chemistry. These guys believe in one another.”
That five of their six wins have been of the comeback variety, there is already a real belief in the clubhouse that the team can rally back from anything.
“It’s still very early,” Lovullo said, “but it gives us a certain confidence to know that if we’re a run or two behind, we’re not out of the ballgame. That’s a credit to our offense, it’s a credit to our players and the focus that they have. It’s a total team effort.
“When we score runs, we’re looking for a shut-down inning, whether it be by the bullpen or the starting pitching. It seems to translate very well.”
Can one incredibly hot week to open the year lead to sustainable success and a still red-hot team come June? Can the Rally-backs keep overcoming deficits and pile up come-from-behind wins?
“Well, if I can look into my crystal ball I’d be able to predict that,” Lovullo said. “But we feel very good that it’s building and as far as creating a certain atmosphere and a certain belief, these guys are feeling that and that’s what teams need on a nightly basis – a certain feeling that they’re never out of a ball game and we’re building that here.
“These guys are earning it. … They’ve earned everything on this homestand.”
A few days before making his season debut, Diamondbacks pitcher Shelby Miller said he could feel a different vibe in the locker room this year. He said the team is “closer” and has a better bond than it did a year ago. Last season, he said it felt like the entire team was “trying not to lose” when things would go bad during a game and it snowballed on them from there.
Asked to further explain those sentiments on Sunday, Miller said it’s the new complexity of the roster.
“I think it’s just the group of guys we have,” he said. “A lot of the same faces, but a lot of new faces like Taijuan (Walker) and Tom (Wilhelmsen). Our catchers are completely different. I think just the mentality and the way we go about our business and kind of just trying to bond in here, to actually be a team and kind of be old school and just be brothers.
“That’s the thing we’re going for and I think everybody is buying into that. We’re playing with some energy, having fun, coming back from deficits. I mean, we’re not giving up and we never think that we’re out of it. I just think the overall energy of this team is amazing. Our goal is to build off that, continue that, and you know, trying to win every single game we can.”
Patrick Corbin, who picked up his first win after pitching six scoreless innings of four-hit ball Sunday, said he wanted to make sure the celebrating continued.
“I didn’t want to be our second loss,” he said, “so to sweep them, I mean they’re a very good team. We know how talented they are. To do that is pretty special.”