Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke to the media after the team’s 4-1 loss to the Phillies. One of the first questions asked was his decision to pull Slade Cecconi after three innings in a 1-0 game. Cecconi has noted issues facing a lineup multiple times through this season, with opposing batters hitting .373 with nine home runs and a 1.182 OPS the second time through.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In the fourth, the Phillies had five consecutive left-handed hitters coming up. That’s when Lovullo turned to left-handed reliever Brandon Hughes to try to prevent the lineup from turning over in the inning.
“I got to a certain point in the lineup, I was trying to figure out the best strategy to keep them down,” said Lovullo in the postgame broadcast. “I thought the race was going to be to three runs, whoever had three runs today was going to win the game, and that was my marker.”
Lovullo’s intuition proved to be correct, as the Phillies won the race to three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. That came when David Dahl hit a two-run single against Justin Martinez, who had a 0.67 ERA entering the game. Martinez inexplicably lost the strike zone for three batters to set up that moment.
“I felt like the matchups we had were the right matchups,” said Lovullo. “They beat one of our best relievers, that happens sometimes. I felt like the strike zone got away from J Mart there for a minute or two and Dahl had the big base hit, that was the difference in the game.”
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
