The Diamondbacks’ four-game win streak was snapped on Thursday in a 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field. Jordan Montgomery took a tough-luck loss despite pitching well through five innings, as the offense started slow and a big sixth inning coming back to bite him.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The shame for Montgomery is how well he pitched in the game. He looked much improved in his start, as his entire arsenal looked more sharp in this start. While the Phillies put up traffic on the left-hander, mostly on seeing-eye singles, he was able to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Through the fifth inning, he had put up five zeros and was in control of his start.
“I thought Jordan threw the ball real good,” said Diamondbacks manager Lovullo in the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV. “He had good life on his fastball. You could see there was a lot of swing-and-miss on the secondary stuff because of that fastball life. The breaking ball at the bottom and the changeup was swing-and-miss as well. It was good day for him.”
However, all the good work unraveled in the sixth. Taking a 1-0 lead on Eugenio Suárez’s 17th home run of the season into the inning, he hit Nick Castellanos with a fastball with one out and appeared to be in good shape to get out of the jam with no runs allowed. But the Phillies made him grind from there. Weston Wilson hit a liner that barely eluded an outstretched Gurriel in left field to tie the game. Walks to Johan Rojas and Kyle Schwarber loaded the bases, prompting Montgomery’s exit. Dylan Floro gave up a couple of soft hits to put the Phillies ahead 4-1.
Because of how the sixth inning ultimately unraveled, Montgomery’s overall final line looked much worse than how he pitched. He allowed four runs, three coming after his final pitch, on eight hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. However, the big at-bat was the walk to Johan Rojas, who entered the at-bat hitting .238 with a .574 OPS. That ended up being a costly mistake, especially after losing Schwarber when he couldn’t get him to expand.
“I think he got a little fatigued. Walking the No. 9 hitter I think was the biggest turning point in the inning. He had one more shot at it with Schwarber, made some pitches to him but just couldn’t finish him off. Some balls get through the infield with Floro on the mound. I liked those matchups, we just didn’t get it done.”
From that point, Arizona’s offense could not recover in the game. They got back into it just two batters into the sixth, as Ketel Marte drew a leadoff walk and Jake McCarthy blasted a ball out to right field to make it 4-3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Josh Bell reached to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but that would be as close as the Diamondbacks would get toward tying the game.
The big hit, which has been there for Arizona during their six-week hot streak, was not there for them tonight. The team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position with some noncompetitive at-bats in key situations. Lovullo didn’t downplay a potential fatigue factor in this game with the rainout, followed by a doubleheader. Despite that potentially impacting the game, he was proud for how the team battled through that to stay in this game.
Due to that doubleheader, and the stress it put on the bullpen to win both games, the options available for this game were limited. Lovullo sent out Slade Cecconi, who allowed two key tack-on runs in three innings. While it likely hurt the team’s chances of pulling this game out, as they lost by two runs, it gives him a more rested bullpen for later in the series. It’s something that can get overlooked over the course of a 162-game season.
The Diamondbacks return to play the Phillies in the second game of the four-game set. Right-hander Ryne Nelson (8-6, 4.65 ERA) goes up against Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.77 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 6:40 P.M.
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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
