With a marquee pitching pitching between Zac Gallen and Chris Sale, runs were going to be at a premium. However, self-inflicted mistakes by the Diamondbacks on the defensive side of the ball proved to be their undoing in a 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Chase Field.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Today’s game felt very awkward, It never had a flow or a rhythm to it from where I was sitting,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo in the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV. “It was grinding, the gears were grinding the entire day.”
Following an emotional road trip where their offense was clicking against two teams in the division, the team has come out flat offensively. Between the two games, they’ve scored six runs on nine hits. With a struggling offense, those mistakes become further magnified.
Much of the mistakes came in the top of the second, when the Braves scored two runs off Gallen. Arizona’s ace was in position to possibly escape the inning with a ground ball, but sloppy defense allowed both of them to score. With runners on the corners and one out, a passed ball allowed the trail runner to advance to second. Sean Murphy hit a ground ball to short, scoring the first run of the frame. The second run came around when Ketel Marte misplayed a line drive hit right at him, deflecting the ball into the outfield. Gallen ended up needing to throw 36 pitches in the inning.
On the other side, the Diamondbacks were grinding down Sale for the first three innings. Arizona’s lineup made the All-Star left-hander throw 77 pitches through the first three innings, but couldn’t get the big hit. They were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position over that stretch, allowing Sale to escape each inning without allowing a run. The early missed opportunities seemed to set the tone for the offense on the night, as they only had one more chance to score the rest of the way.
Gallen ended up settling in, pitching three scoreless innings. At 90 pitches, Lovullo sent his ace out to get through the sixth with a bullpen taxed from having to pitch 11 innings the previous night. After striking out Austin Riley, the inning completely unraveled. A double by Matt Olson, followed by a single by Marcell Ozuna set the stage for Adam Duvall. Duvall got an 0-2 curveball at the bottom of the strike zone and crushed a long home run to left field to put the Braves up 5-0.
“I was piecing it together and I felt like if he gave us six, we’d be in a great spot,” said Lovullo. “Sent him out there, asked him to do a little bit more at 105 pitches, and just made that mistake to Duvall on an 0-2 curveball.”
Those extra runs proved to be critical, as the Diamondbacks finally solved Sale in the bottom of the sixth. Gabriel Moreno singled with one out, then Jake McCarthy ripped a triple to the right-center gap to put Arizona on the board. McCarthy later scored on Eugenio Suárez’s groundout, but they never threatened again in the game with just one hit in the final three innings.
Jake McCarthy splits the right center gap to get the #Dbacks on the board. pic.twitter.com/3yCMHa1N4n
— Burn City D-backs Talk????️ (@BurnCityDbacks) July 10, 2024
The Diamondbacks will have to flush what happened the last two games, desperately needing a win in order to get back in the series. Right-hander Slade Cecconi (2-6, 6.10 ERA) will start for Arizona while the Braves will counter with veteran right-hander Charlie Morton (5-5, 3.96 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 6:40 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
