TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ losing streak continues. The Washington Nationals beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 on Saturday.
It had to end sooner or later. You didn’t really think the Diamondbacks were going to go the entire season without losing a single series, after all.
As it was, it took them a month and a half before they assured themselves of dropping their first one.
The Washington Nationals took care of that on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory in front of 29,428 at Chase Field. It marked Washington’s third straight win over Arizona in the four-game series, which concludes Sunday night with a national broadcast on ESPN.
The Diamondbacks began the year by becoming the first National League team since the 1907 Chicago Cubs to win their first nine series of a season. Arizona would stretch its unbeaten series streak to 12 overall with 10 series wins and two ties before losing its first series on Saturday.
“Honestly, it wasn’t something we were really thinking about,” said first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who walked twice and scored Arizona’s only run on a third-inning double by A.J. Pollock. “We’ve just been trying to go out there and win every game that we could and really, our mindset hasn’t changed.”
Despite making several great plays on defense, the Diamondbacks once again couldn’t deliver with runners on base or in scoring position (they went 0 for 8) and they found themselves losing to yet another dominating opposing pitcher. This time it was Stephen Strasburg, who scattered five hits with one walk and nine strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
Manager Torey Lovullo could almost smell it coming.
“Baseball’s a great game, and as hard as you go and as much as you want to win, the probabilities are going to show that you’re going to have little hiccups like we are,” he said before the game. “I think what our guys are doing is we’re focusing on what we’ve got to do today and putting aside what we’ve walked through over the past couple of days, which probably is a little bit of frustration.
“It’s everybody. I am, I know the guys are, but it never, ever gets in the way of what we’re trying to get to. So putting that aside, we feel good about what we’ve done up to this point. We take care of our business as a group. … If we don’t win a series or if we split a series, it’s not the end of the world. We know everything is going to be OK tomorrow.” Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. The fact of the matter is after winning 21 of their first 29 games, the Diamondbacks have now lost seven of their past 10. The offense has been in a funk, highlighted by Goldschmidt’s uncharacteristic season-long slump, and once again, they’re left scratching their heads about what to do with Robbie Ray’s spot in the starting rotation.
Ray has now missed two starts since suffering a strained right oblique during a game at Washington. Neither replacement the Diamondbacks have called upon thus far has managed to provide any stability in his absence.
Kris Medlen had the first opportunity, and in his first major-league appearance in two years, he allowed seven runs in four innings on nine hits and four walks during an 8-0 loss to the Astros. On Saturday, it was Troy Scribner’s turn. The 26-year-old righthander, making just his fifth majorleague start and his first this season, wasn’t much better.
Scribner, claimed off waivers from the Angels in April, only lasted 3 2/3 innings after throwing 98 pitches. His fastball never touched 90 mph and he battled control issues, although the Nationals only scored twice off of him on four hits and six walks. An RBI double by Bryce Harper in the third and a runscoring fielder’s choice by Anthony Rendon in the fourth was all Washington needed.
“A little frustrating,” Scribner said when asked to evaluate his performance. “I know that I can do better than that. I expect to do better than that. I’ve got some work to do until the next time.”
Of course, it would have helped had his teammates given him any run support. The Diamondbacks have only scored three runs in this series, and they could only produce one run on Saturday off Strasburg.
The good news is the Diamondbacks are starting to get healthy. Third baseman Jake Lamb (shoulder) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment on Sunday. Ray, meanwhile, started throwing on Saturday for the first time since his injury and could be back much sooner than anticipated.
Reinforcements are also coming in the form of right-handers Randall Delgado (oblique) and Braden Shipley (elbow), the latter of whom might be the next man to slide into Ray’s spot in the rotation. He was a candidate to do just that until he developed some minor elbow inflammation upon his promotion from Triple-A Reno.
Mix all of that into the club’s historic strong start, the likelihood that the offense is going to turn things around and the fact that Goldschmidt surely will rediscover himself at the plate, and there’s still a lot to like about these Diamondbacks, according to Alex Rodriguez.
The former slugger-turned-analyst, who will help call Sunday’s game on ESPN, said he’s still mighty impressed with what he’s seen from the team.
“The most impressive part is they’ve just kept getting better and better since last season,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s really a tribute to the job the front office has done, and the manager. Personally, I really like their blue-collar approach. Their best player in Goldschmidt, who’s been the face, and then obviously A.J. (Pollock), they’re professional guys and they go about their business the right way.
“They’re part of this generation where they have an old-school DNA. I think it’s a true advantage when you worry about things like defense and running the bases and playing the game the right way the way they do. It sets a good example not only for the 25 guys in the clubhouse, but for the entire organization.”