D-Backs’ struggles continue
Arizona collects just 3 hits in loss to Brewers
MILWAUKEE – When the Diamondbacks had the bases loaded in the first inning on Monday night, Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Chase Anderson leaned on his fastball. He used it to strike out Jarrod Dyson, climbing the ladder for Strike 3, then went to it again against Nick Ahmed, getting him to fly to left to end the threat.
That the Diamondbacks’ biggest scoring chance in a punchless 4-2 loss was scotched because of their inability to hit the fastball is nothing new for this beleaguered offense. It’s a pitch opposing staffs have used with impunity against the Diamondbacks, who thus far have provided little reason for them to do anything else.
The Diamondbacks continued their downward spiral on Monday, with their offense again being the unit most responsible for their demise. They collected just three hits. They had just two atbats with men in scoring position, both coming in the aforementioned first-inning opportunity against Anderson, the former Diamondbacks pitcher traded to the Brewers in the Jean Segura trade.
After losing their fifth consecutive game and their 11th in the past 12, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s voice sounded more subdued than normal. Players answered questions with more of an edge. The clubhouse felt quieter than normal.
“We had some good at-bats in the first and we just didn’t get that big hit,” Ahmed said. “That’s kind of how it’s been going. It’s going to turn around soon.”
It might not if they don’t start hitting the fastball. Of the 810 they’d put into play entering Monday night, the Diamondbacks owned just a .221 batting average. The next closest team, the Texas Rangers, were hitting .240. The Tampa Bay Rays were leading the league with a .298 average on fastballs.
Last season, the Diamondbacks ranked eighth among the 30 major league teams with a .286 average.
“I feel like, at times, velocity is beating us,” Lovullo said. “It’s not a mystery. I think the rest of the league is paying close attention to that. I think, at times, we need to do a better job hitting the fastball.”
Entering Monday, Chris Owings was just 6 for 49 (.122) and David Peralta 13 for 81 (.160) when hitting fastballs, the lowest averages among the club’s regulars. The best on the team: Daniel Descalso at .338 (22 for 65), followed by A.J. Pollock at .288 (23 for 80).
Anderson gave up a single, a hit batter and a pair of walks – one of which forced home a run – in the first inning, but allowed only two other hits the rest of the way.
The first inning was pivotal beyond just the Diamondbacks’ inability to deliver a big hit. Lorenzo Cain led off the bottom of the first by flaring a ball to right, where Owings initially broke back before racing it. It fell in front of him for a single, an uncharacteristic misplay for a player who has been one of their best defenders.
“I don’t know (if ) he necessarily picked the ball up the right way,” Lovullo said.
It turned out to be costly. Three batters later, Travis Shaw launched a Zack Greinke change-up to straightaway center field for a two-run homer, putting the Brewers ahead 2-1.
They padded their lead with two more homers off Greinke, one by Domingo Santana in the fourth, another by Cain in the sixth. The pitches they hit? Fastballs.
“We want to hit fastballs in the middle of the plate,” Ahmed said. “I think that’s 99.9 percent of guys’ approaches when they go up to the plate. You’re trying to hit a fastball or a pitch right in the middle of the plate. Right now, we’re not doing it. We’re going to work hard to make sure we are.”
If there’s a positive for the Diamondbacks, it was in Jake Lamb’s four trips to the plate. He drilled an opposite-field homer in the sixth and drew a pair of walks in four plate appearances. It ranks among the more productive days by a Diamondbacks hitter in weeks.
“He was taking pitches just off the edge of the plate, surveying the strike zone,” Lovullo said. “He squared up a ball that was out over the plate and was right in an area of his strength. I think that’s a good sign.”