Lovullo positive after thrashing

The Diamondbacks have not hit well. They have not pitched well. And they have not been winning baseball games. They have not done much to suggest they are a very good team.

But that did not stop them from trying to speak it into existence during a session with reporters on Saturday night.

“Been saying it now for a couple of days: We’re a good baseball team,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said shortly after his team was crushed, 11-2, by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. “I believe that. We’re going to get this thing turned around. I’m a firm believer in that.”

“I believe in my team,” third baseman Eduardo Escobar said. “Everything is going to be fine.”

If they are going to end up being right about that, they will need much about the way they have played through the first nine games to change over their final 51. In falling to 3-6, the Diamondbacks played the same brand of baseball that has plagued them since they opened in San Diego last month.

They gave up big innings, issuing walks that led directly to run. And they were unable to produce offensively, failing to connect for a home run for the seventh time in nine games.

Some numbers to put their struggles into perspective: The Dodgers had three innings in which they scored three runs or more. They hit four home runs. They did all of that on Saturday night.

The Diamondbacks have had two innings in which they scored three runs or more. They have hit two home runs. Those are their totals through nine games.

“Everybody on this team is still positive,” Escobar said. “I know it’s frustrating right now for everybody. We want to win. It’s a short season. We don’t want to panic. But, believe me, with my guys, my teammates, there’s no panic. We’re still working hard. We’re still fighting.”

Diamondbacks right-hander Luke Weaver was charged with six runs in four-plus innings, once again pitching well early in the game before things fell apart in the middle innings. In the fourth, he issued a leadoff walk to Joc Pederson, then served up a two-run homer to Edwin Rios two batters later. He started the fifth with another walk and was gone two batters later following Justin Turner’s two-run triple.

“I felt like my dominant self,” Weaver said. “And then it just kind of starts to build and spiral. We always say to try to limit the big hit, the big inning, I can’t seem to avoid that right now.”

The same thing happened earlier in the week in San Diego, where Weaver threw three strong innings before the Padres scored five times in the fourth.

Through nine games, the Diamondbacks’ rotation owns a 5.89 ERA, among the worst in the majors.