Merrill Kelly dominates A's then gets ejected as D-Backs win again
OAKLAND, Calif. — Merrill Kelly searched back as far as he could. At 34, that exercise requires more of him than most. Five major league seasons, four in Korea, five more in the minors. Those days at Arizona State and Yavapai Community College, all the way back to Desert Mountain High School and Little League before that. His mind cycled through all the stops quickly. Never, he concluded, had he been ejected from a game. Not until Monday night in Oakland.
Kelly is not a firebrand, not a pitcher who barks at umpires or leaps off the mound to celebrate strikeouts. The extent of his animation often lies in a sigh when Torey Lovullo comes out to take the ball.
He offered that Monday, disappointed to be removed after seven innings of the Diamondbacks’ 5-2 win. Then, on his way into the dugout, he offered a bit more. A point to second base, where the A’s Jordan Diaz stood, followed by a few words with first base umpire Brock Ballou. Two batters earlier, Ballou ruled Diaz checked his swing on a 1-2 pitch. Instant replay showed that Diaz clearly broke the plane and should have been rung up as Kelly’s ninth strikeout of the night.
“I didn't think I was being too vulgar — until after he threw me out,” Kelly said. Evidently, Bailou disagreed. Given Kelly had already been removed from the game, his ejection held little tangible meaning. It did provide him an opportunity to sound off on the original check swing ruling.
“I thought that was a terrible call,” Kelly said. “I thought it was a very, very obvious swing. I've seen the video of it. In my mind, it was a very obvious swing. At that time, that guy's got one job to do. That's the only thing he's got to pay attention to right there and he missed it and it cost me a strikeout.”
Kelly’s ejection sent him to the clubhouse alongside his manager. Lovullo had been tossed immediately after ball two to Diaz. Given their dugout’s perch along the first base line, the entire Diamondbacks dugout rose up to voice their displeasure with Ballou’s call. Ballou, though, chose only to eject Lovullo. It was his second dismissal of the year, following one against the Brewers in April, which came for arguing balls and strikes.
“I see what I see,” Lovullo said. “I don't argue balls that are inside or outside. I can argue them if they're up or down. And when it's an open side and I can see what the barrel's doing, it almost looked like a full swing to me.”
The Diamondbacks’ frustration was amplified by what Kelly had done until that point. The A’s are setting records for pitching futility en route to a league-worst 9-34 record, but their offense has been close to average in most metrics.
Kelly made it look as bad as their pitching, which gave up a pair of two-run homers to Geraldo Perdomo and Lourdes Gurriel early on. Through seven innings, he had allowed two hits: A broken bat bloop single into centerfield and a single that just crept under the glove of a diving Josh Rojas. That, along with an unearned run, was the A’s tally.
“Tonight was probably the most in control of my delivery, rhythm, everything that I've probably felt all year,” Kelly said.
Lovullo lauded Kelly’s fastball command, which he said enabled him to go to his changeup early and often. He used the pitch to get five of his eight strikeouts.
“That's the pitch I like throwing the most,” Kelly said. “When it's working, it's dancing, it's a fun pitch to throw. And tonight was really good. I was able to keep it down.”
Kelly’s changeup is part of the repertoire that allows him to pitch deep in games more than any other Diamondback, including Zac Gallen. Because the pitch is so effective against lefties, the right-handed Kelly has actually been better against them than righties in his career. He also has five reliable pitches, making life challenging on opposing hitters.
“Any time that the hitters have to honor that many pitches, especially if I'm locating, I think it makes it a very hard gameplan for an offense,” Kelly said. “I think that if I'm locating those pitches and executing the gameplan that I want, I think it leads to not only strikeouts but early contact, which leads to less pitches which equals more innings.”
For a while, it looked as if Monday could epitomize Kelly’s ability to pitch deep in games. He entered the eighth inning at just 88 pitches. In the dugout prior, he told Lovullo he wanted his first career complete game.
“I was definitely sniffing it,” Kelly said. More realistically, he was looking at his sixth ever eight-inning outing.
Immediately, that plan unraveled. Jace Peterson led off with a homer, Diaz walked after Ballou’s missed call and Nick Allen singled to right. Then came the ejection.
But by that point, Kelly had already done enough.
Josh Rojas emerging from slump with strong stretch
OAKLAND — From April 22 to May 10, Josh Rojas endured a brutal 4 for 35 stretch, dropping his OPS from .777 to .634.
Throughout those struggles, though, Torey Lovullo’s confidence in his third baseman remained. Rojas continued to start nearly every day during that stretch, batting atop the Diamondbacks’ lineup more often than not.
“I know it's a hard game and some guys are gonna have bad days, bad moments and take some lumps and take an 0-for-8, 0-for-10. I just wanted to be patient with him,” Lovullo said. “If there's a fundamental break down and there's things that they need to improve upon, I might drop them out of there. But I just like the way that he approaches each at-bat. He's engaged.”
Now, Rojas appears to be exiting his slump. He recorded a hit in all four games of this weekend’s series against the Giants, despite only starting three of them. In each of the final three, he collected doubles.
While Lovullo never became concerned enough to drop Rojas down in his lineup, he did notice some over-aggressiveness in his swing over those two weeks.
“I usually can tell by what his head's doing,” Lovullo said. “When his head's on the ball, he's a good hitter. When his head's coming off the ball, I know there's some swing and miss in there. So we've addressed those things. But I just like the intensity and the ability to control at-bats and see pitches.”
Rojas has mitigated his offense by being one of the best defensive infielders in baseball through a month and a half. At the plate, he’s hitting .259 with a .664 OPS. He has yet to hit a home run.
Monday's Diamondbacks-Athletics pitching matchup
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-3, 3.18) vs. Athletics RHP Drew Rucinski (0-3, 8.16).
Kelly gave up four runs in six innings against the Marlins on Wednesday, taking the loss in a 5-4 defeat. … He walked one batter for the third consecutive game, a sign that the control problems that plagued him early in the year might be behind him. … He has faced the A’s only once in his career, giving up four runs in five innings in a start in 2020, when the Oakland lineup was almost completely different. … Rucinski logged big league time in parts of four seasons from 2014-2018 before going to Korea, where he pitched four seasons for the NC Dinos. … The Athletics signed him to a one-year, $3 million deal in December. … Rucinski has failed to record a quality start in any of his three starts. Most recently he gave up seven runs (five earned) in five innings, with three walks and two strikeouts, in a loss to the Yankees. … Rucinski is largely a fastball/slider pitcher who also mixes in the occasional change-up and curveball. He averages a touch below 90 mph on both his four-seam and two-seam fastball.
Coming up
Tuesday: At Oakland, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry (1-1, 4.43) vs. Athletics LHP Kyle Muller (1-3, 7.34).
Wednesday: At Oakland, 12:37 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.20) vs. Athletics RHP Luis Medina (0-2, 8.18).
Thursday: Off.
Friday: At Pittsburgh, 3:35 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (6-1, 2.35) vs. Pirates RHP Johan Oviedo (2-3, 5.14).
Sunday game recap: Brandon Pfaadt moves forward with good outing in win over Giants
Up next
Oakland Athletics
The Athletics entered Sunday with just nine wins in their first 41 games, the worst record in baseball. After parting ways with veterans in previous years, they continued to sell off pieces during the winter, trading C Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves and LHP A.J. Puk to the Marlins in exchange for prospects. They are left with a team filled with largely inexperienced players, many of whom are struggling to perform in the early part of the season. The A’s are 27th in the majors in runs per game as an offense, averaging just 3.8 runs. Their pitching staff is last in the majors with a 7.20 ERA; the next closest is the White Sox with a 5.54 ERA. OF Brent Rooker, who the club claimed off waivers from the Royals in November, is off to an incredible start, hitting .316/.424/.667 with 11 homers and 20 walks. CF Esteury Ruiz is hitting a decent .277/.339/.371 with 18 steals in 21 tries. The A’s rotation has a 7.58 ERA. RHP Mason Miller showcased his electric stuff over four starts but recently landed on the injured list with elbow tightness. The A’s bullpen is last in the majors with a 6.72 ERA.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Merrill Kelly strong as Diamondbacks open Oakland series with win
