Lovullo makes painful decision
Manager pulls Young after 6 hitless innings
Diamondbacks right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano entered the game in the seventh inning on Sunday to a chorus of boos from the Chase Field crowd, a symphony that grew in volume when Rockies shortstop Trevor Story swung at Hirano’s first-pitch offering and legged out an infield single.
It was the first hit of the game for the Rockies, who had been hapless against Diamondbacks left-hander Alex Young through six innings. Despite throwing just 71 pitches and not allowing a hit, Young was removed from his third MLB appearance as Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo chose to adhere to a predetermined pitch count.
“I’m watching him dominate the very offensive Colorado Rockies,” Lovullo said. “And I just know in my mind before we go into the game that he’s not going to exceed a certain pitch limit and under no circumstances am I go
ing to allow that to happen.
“When there was zero stimulus, that’s what I told myself. You get caught up in the emotion of it, but we can’t come off of that. It’s hard and it’s very excruciating.”
Young threw just 26 pitches in a relief appearance on Tuesday after throwing 74 pitches over five innings in his bigleague debut on June 27 in San Francisco. When considering Young’s recent pitch counts and the fact that he had not exceeded five innings in a game at any level this season, the Diamondbacks determined that it would not be wise for Young to continue on Sunday — especially considering the Diamondbacks held a slim 1-0 lead with the meat of the Rockies lineup coming up for the third time.
“He probably could have given us nine more pitches and that’s where we were,” said Lovullo, whose Diamondbacks wound up with a 5-3 win and a sweep of the Rockies.
“That equals no chance at getting a no-hitter. There was no way he was going beyond that. It was (74) pitches, some time off and then out of the bullpen at (26 pitches), to then spike him up to 95 pitches … just didn’t make sense. We do a great job of not risking injury here. I just didn’t want to spike him up to 95 pitches.”
Still, Lovullo said removing Young in the middle of a no-hitter was one of the hardest emotional decisions he’s had to make as a manager. And the fans let him hear about it.
“I know I’m an idiot,” Lovullo said. “You didn’t have to tell me 15 times. I heard it the first time. One and I’m good. … When the people in the back of me are screaming things for three innings, it makes (the decision) even more painful. I’m very aware of it, but it’s part of the game.”
Although Young did not miss many bats, he allowed just one ball in play with an exit velocity greater than 100 mph. He registered eight fly-ball outs and five via ground ball. A one-out walk in the third inning was the lone baserunner he allowed. He struck out three batters.
Diamondbacks catcher Alex Avila, who caught Justin Verlander’s no-hitter in May 2011 with the Detroit Tigers, said he had never been a part of a game where a pitcher was removed with a nohitter that late in a game.
“I’m sure it was (disappointing),” Avila said. “That was a first for me. But with (Alex’s) relief outing the other day in Los Angeles, it probably wouldn’t have been the smartest move to let him continue so Torey had to make a decision on what would be best for Alex moving forward.
“With nine outs to go, it’s easy to play the ‘what if ’ game with the manager, but if Torey was making decisions based on what the fans wanted, he probably wouldn’t be a manager very long.”
Including Young’s relief appearance on Tuesday, the rookie has not allowed a hit in his past 8 1/3 innings pitched. Diamondbacks starters posted 10 consecutive hitless innings between Ray’s outing Saturday and Young on Sunday.
It was just the 18th time in team history that a Diamondbacks pitcher has opened a game with six hitless innings, and the second such instance this season (Zack Greinke, June 13). It was the first time since Edgar Gonzalez in August 2004 that a rookie had accomplished the feat.
Young has allowed one run in 13 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks this season and has helped plug a hole in a rotation struggling to keep up with injury.
“It’s been a tough road with a lot of ups and downs,” Young said of his journey. “I’m just excited to be here and it was great to be able to pitch in front of the home fans.”
Young said Sunday was the longest he had carried a no-hit bid since the 2015 College World Series when he held Vanderbilt hitless through five innings in a game Young and Texas Christian eventually lost.
Omaha was a big stage, Young said. But his flirtation with history on Sunday in Phoenix was something different entirely.
“I just want to do what’s best for the team,” Young said, “and that’s what Torey thought, and I agreed with him. I felt great and I felt like I could go back out, but I respected Torey’s decision. I was happy with everything and can’t complain. … I’ll take that outing any day of the week.”