The Diamondbacks fell to the Chicago White Sox 9-2 at Chase Field. Chicago flexed their muscles, hitting four home runs off three different Arizona relievers to blow the game open.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“We just got beat tonight,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo following the game on the television broadcast. “They out-pitched us, their starting pitcher was very effective, their offense got moving in a very positive direction. They were slugging, they drew walks, they had 12 hits. It was one of those frustrating days where things were going good early for us, but we couldn’t just get that big knock.”
Early on, it looked like the Diamondbacks would take control of the game offensively. Corbin Carroll doubled and Ketel Marte singled to give Arizona the lead two batters into the game. In the second, they loaded the bases with one out and the lineup turning back over to the top. However, the inning unraveled quickly, with Carroll rung up on a cutter that appeared to be above the top of the strike zone and Marte grounding out. That ended up being a key inflection point in the game, as Chicago immediately took control of the game.
The strike zone, and the number of missed calls on the night by home plate umpire Nick Mahrley, became too bothersome for Lovullo to ignore in the eighth. The Diamondbacks manager was tossed from the game in the eighth inning. At that point, he went out of the dugout and told Mahrley that his calls were “not satisfactory”.
They had another opportunity to hit their way back in the game in the fourth. Carroll hit his second double of the night and Marte reached on a bunt single to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Joc Pederson lifted a sacrifice fly to left center to cut the deficit to two runs. That’s as close as the Diamondbacks got for the rest of the game. The 3-5 hitters in Arizona’s lineup struggled, as they combined to go 0-for-11 at the plate with only that sacrifice fly to show for it.
The Diamondbacks once again opened the game Scott McGough in a bullpen game. McGough got the first seven outs, pitching around a walk and an error. He surrendered a double to his ninth and final batter. Facing a lineup composed of only right-handed hitters, manager Torey Lovullo opted to go with his right-handed relievers first, with Thyago Vieira and Bryce Jarvis coming into the game before Tommy Henry.
“I chose to match up right-on-right for as much as possible,” said Lovullo. “The score was going to dictate whether or not I went to Tommy or stayed with a right-handed batch of relievers.”
The strategy made sense, but the execution was a bit lacking. Vieira faced the next 10 hitters, allowing a game-tying single to Andrew Vaughn after Lovullo instructed him to commit an intentional balk. Paul DeJong gave Chicago the lead in the fourth, hitting a home run to the pool area. Vieira then walked Pham with two outs in the fifth. Bryce Jarvis was summoned out of the bullpen and Vaughn turned around his first pitch for a two-run home run.
Lovullo finally brought in Henry for long relief in the sixth. While he was able to complete the ballgame, it was a rough road for the young left-hander. Henry surrendered five runs on five hits in four innings, with two of those hits being home runs. It turned a 4-2 game into a 9-2 laugher.
The Diamondbacks will have a chance to take the series if they win the rubber match. They will send left-hander Jordan Montgomery (4-4, 6.58 ERA) to the mound while Chicago sends out rookie Drew Thorpe (0-0, 1.80 ERA) for his second career start. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 1:10 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
