Another loss as Calhoun’s return on hold
Injured OF has possible setback in rehab game
The Diamondbacks did not just close out one of the worst June performances in baseball history by allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to finish off a threegame sweep on Wednesday afternoon, they also were dealt another disappointing blow on the injury front.
Before the start of what would become a 7-4 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, the Diamondbacks learned outfielder Kole Calhoun would be halting his rehab assignment and returning to Phoenix to undergo an MRI on his left hamstring, the same injury from which he seemingly had been close to returning after undergoing surgery in late April.
Calhoun, playing for Triple-A Reno in the second game of his rehab assignment, was trying to get out of the way of a pitch that hit him when he might have aggravated the injury.
“We’re hoping for the best news possible,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He knows his body as good as any athlete I’ve ever been around and he just felt like there was a little bit of discomfort. It was something the medical team wanted to get evaluated.” As usual, things did not get any better once the game began. The Diamondbacks turned in another uninspired performance.
Right-hander Riley Smith lasted just three innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
The offense again struggled with runners in scoring position, going 1 for 14. There were defensive miscues beyond just errors, including a missed cutoff man and a more subtle mistake that gifted the Cardinals 90 feet on the bases.
“Fundamentally, we’ve got to execute at a better level,” Lovullo said. “We do a lot right, but you can tell when we do two or three wrong it costs us a ballgame and those stick out.”
The small mistakes might not have cost the Diamondbacks the game, but they have begun to pile up in an embarrassing manner, particular for a manager who has long stressed defense.
In the third, left fielder Josh Rojas caught a deep fly ball with his momentum headed the wrong way. An astute Paul Goldschmidt tagged from second and beat the throw to third. Two innings later, center fielder Tim Locastro airmailed the cutoff man, allowing Tommy Edman to move up an extra base.
The loss brought an end to a 3-24 month, the worst June performance by any club in baseball’s modern era (since 1900). The only team to have a worse June was the 1889 Louisville Colonels, who went 2-24 en route to a 27-111-2 season in the American Association.
As for Calhoun, he is coming off a strong 2020 season in which he rated as the Diamondbacks’ best offensive player, but he has thus far had an injuryplagued 2021.
He appeared to be getting close to another return. Calhoun homered twice in the first game of his rehab assignment on Monday night.