Flores heats up as Arizona battles for the playoffs
Diamondbacks second baseman Wilmer Flores faced the media after Friday’s extra-innings loss at Chase Field and said the team needed to “flush” the bad losses and regroup for the rest of the series.
Flores responded with six hits in the following two games, including a home run in Sunday’s 6-1 win as the Diamondbacks avoided a four-game sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.
With the win, the Diamondbacks assured themselves of a wild-card deficit no greater than 4 1/2 games when play ends Sunday.
“Like I said the other day,” Flores said after Sunday’s game, “we have to flush the tough losses. Every day is a new day and we can’t think about what happened the days before.”
Flores is 10 for his last 15, good for a .714 batting average to go along with three home runs, 6 RBIs and a 2.162 OPS in his last five games. The first-year Diamondbacks second baseman seems to be finally healed from a foot fracture that sidelined him for two months earlier in the season.
“I’ve been feeling good for a long time now,” Flores said. “I just wasn’t getting the results. It feels good to be getting the results. … You always need some at bats with big league pitching to get ready (after a long injury). It’s not an excuse, but sometimes you need it. Now I’m in a good place.”
Flores has been a consistent offensive performer for much of his career but has not always been lauded the same for his defense. On Sunday, however, he made a high-level play at a crucial juncture.
Clinging to a three-run lead with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Flores made a nifty grab on a ground ball by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. Flores positioned himself deep beyond the infield dirt as the ball eluded a lunging Jake Lamb at first base. Flores had to fire a throw from about 10 feet beyond the lip of the outfield grass to a sprinting Chafin covering the base.
“It’s one of the hardest throws from second base when the pitcher is covering the bag,” Flores said. “But I had to make sure I made a strong throw right at him. It’s tough for him running and trying to catch the ball.”
“It was great teamwork all around on that,” Chafin said. “Lamb did his best to dive out of the way and make sure he was out of the play. ‘Flo’ made a good play on it and put it right on the bag as I was getting there.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Flores is starting to look like the proficient player the Diamondbacks signed this offseason.
“His barrel is on the ball,” Lovullo said of Flores. “His misses are very balanced misses. Everything he’s swinging at is calculated and under control. I think it’s taken him a little while. I know he’s experienced some frustration through some of those injuries. He’s on the other side of it now and doing a really nice job of squaring up the baseball.”
Marte still out
Diamondbacks infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte was held out of the lineup and not used for the second straight game on Sunday.
Lovullo said Marte was available off the bench, but the team elected for added rest. Marte was scratched from Saturday’s original lineup with low back tightness, Lovullo said.
“We’re obviously going to run through some functional testing,” Lovullo said. “I’m assuming he’s going to be feeling better but we’re going to give it a little bit of rest. … We’ve got to get him to swing the bat a little bit today.”
It’s not entirely clear how Marte hurt himself, but the pain may have started during the Diamondbacks’ trip through Los Angeles and Colorado last week.
“I don’t know if there was one particular swing,” Lovullo said. “I think it was a build-up is the way it was explained to me by the medical staff. Maybe the lefthanded swing causes a bit more discomfort . ... ”