D-Backs aim to reset, rebound after break
Reds send Arizona to 8th loss in past 11
Initially, Torey Lovullo couldn’t say if the Diamondbacks were hitting the All-Star break at the perfect time or not.
Hours later on Sunday, however, moments after his club lost for the eighth time in its past 11 games following a 2-1 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds, Lovullo had enough time to change his mind when asked if the Diamondbacks could now really use a little R&R.
“Well, it certainly looks like it,” Lovullo said. “I can’t not help but think that it might after a couple tough situations that we’ve been walking though over the last couple series.
“But sometimes you want to get out and play and get the worm to turn right away. I just think these guys will refresh their minds and be ready for Atlanta on Friday.”
Though Arizona has lost five of its past six and the offense seems to have suddenly disappeared, there’s no reason to panic or break a leg by jumping off the bandwagon. The Diamondbacks still have a healthy lead when it comes to a National League wild-card spot. The odds are better than 90 percent that they’ll make the playoffs.
And don’t forget, they’ve already set a franchise record with 53 victories before the break.
But everyone might be well served by taking the next four days to ponder what’s been happening to this baseball team as of late and where things may be headed coming out of the break. This is the toughest stretch the club has gone through so far this season and the question is whether it’s a mini slump or a sign of deeper trouble possibly lurking ahead.
“I think it comes at a good time, as far
as the break is concerned,” All-Star third baseman Jake Lamb said. “Yeah, we haven’t played our best baseball the past week, two weeks. But we have a few days off, we get to regroup, everyone can go see their family, relax, and then start back up in Atlanta.”
The past few days at Chase Field, however, have felt a little flat. A day after getting blanked by the Reds 7-0, the Diamondbacks on Sunday didn’t play with the resiliency they’ve shown for the better portion of this year. And once again, like their recent three-game sweep in Los Angeles at the hands of the Dodgers, they couldn’t finish.
Patrick Corbin pitched six strong innings. Chris Owings went 3 for 4. A.J. Pollock drilled his first home run and swiped his first bag since coming back from the disabled list. But still, it wasn’t enough and it never nearly felt like it would.
“A tough game to lose,” Lovullo said. “When you lose a 2-1 game, you have a couple opportunities offensively and you get a well-pitched game by Patrick, those are tough moments. You lose a 2-1 game after being shut out the night before, it’s something that we’re not very used to – one run over 18 innings.
“But this is a very offensive team, we will continue to be an offensive team and I believe in us as an offensive team.”
It’s no wonder Lovullo’s private postgame message to his ballplayers was of a positive nature. Instead of having them dwell on what hasn’t gone right the past several days, his directive was for them to reflect on all the good they did to get where they are.
“It was a little message about the productive first half and that we’re halfway through this marathon and we’ve got a long way to go but that we’re on the right path,” Lovullo said. “We’ve earned things. I asked us to go out and play hard to earn things and to enjoy the break, recharge the batteries and come out swinging in the second half.”
That was going to be Owings’ mantra no matter what.
“Yeah, just looking back at the big picture,” he said. “It’s probably the best first half we’ve played ever since I’ve been with the Diamondbacks, I know that. So I’m going to look at it as a positive and take a mental break for two days. Then I’m going to fly to Atlanta early on Wednesday and start getting prepared for the second half of the season.”
There’s no bad trend Lovullo wants to see end. He said the Diamondbacks simply have hit a dip in the road, and he believes they will recover from it. In fact, he doesn’t want his players to do anything different at all.
“We’ve lost a number of games over the past couple of series, but would we do anything differently? I wouldn’t want these guys to change one thing,” he said. “I know it’s been very successful, the recipe has been pretty good for us all season. I think these players spoil us because they make the game look easy and they go out and execute and when they don’t, sometimes it’s alarming.
“So I would say to them, just keep doing what you’re doing, build innings and know that things are going to fall into place very soon.”