Diamondbacks drop ninth in a row in series-opening loss to Padres
On the day of the trade deadline, the Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Tommy Pham. They started that day in a virtual tie for a playoff spot. Their record stood at seven games over .500.
They have not won since.
The Diamondbacks’ losing streak was extended to nine games on Friday night in a 10-5 loss to the San Diego Padres at Chase Field. All told, there was little about this setback that distinguished it from the others that came before it.
They did not pitch well enough. Their offense was too quiet for too long. It added up to a loss that dropped them two games under .500 for the first time this season.
“It’s frustrating,” Pham said. “You play to win.”
The Diamondbacks’ demise has been stunning not just because of its totality but because of what preceded it. This organization has had stretches of ineptitude that compare to this, most of which took place during the 111- and 110-loss seasons in 2004 and 2021, respectively. Those skids were perpetrated by teams that already were demonstrably bad.
This Diamondbacks team, however, began the month of July with a victory to move to a season-high-tying 16 games over .500. They have since proceeded to drop 25 of the past 32 games.
The collapse has been historic. No team in the modern era — since 1900 — has ever gone from 16 games over .500 to two games under in just 32 games, according to Sportradar. The only other teams to do it: the 1885 Providence Grays, the 1886 Louisville Colonels and the 1893 Brooklyn Grooms.
“It was a frustrating one for all of us, myself included,” said right-hander Ryne Nelson, who allowed six runs in three innings. “The game isn’t treating us very well right now.”
For two brief moments on Friday, the Diamondbacks appeared to have a chance to win a ballgame. In the first instance, they took an early lead against the Padres. It did not last long. Then, several innings later, they inched closer, threatening a comeback. The Padres snuffed it out with little trouble.
The Diamondbacks lost ground to several of the teams they are ostensibly competing with for a wild-card spot. The Cubs and Reds, both of whom are ahead of the Diamondbacks, won. The Padres gained ground, as well, and are just one game back of the Diamondbacks, who are three games out of the final wild card with three teams ahead of them.
“Every game is important,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “We have seven games against these guys here in the next 10. So, we’re chasing some teams, they’re one of them. We have to beat them to catch them. So (it’s) a good start.”
Of course, the longer that this losing skid goes on the more ridiculous it seems to cast the Diamondbacks as contenders. They did not look like a competitive team for much of Friday night’s game.
They scored an early run in the first but missed out on a chance to add on. Three innings later, they were down 6-1 after Nelson served up homers to Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth as well as a run-scoring triple to Juan Soto and an RBI single to Manny Machado.
Nelson seemed baffled by his struggles. He said this is the best he has felt all year both in terms of his physical strength and the quality of his stuff, but he has been hammered in each of his past two outings. He said there is talk internally about whether he is tipping pitches.
“If anybody knows what I’m doing and they would like to tell me, that would be nice,” he said. “We can’t seem to figure out if that is the case or it is not.”
He said his recent results would make more sense if he were.
“There’s some that I think are confusing,” he said. “Like the heater inside to Bogaerts today. That was the pitch that he, numbers-wise, doesn’t hit very well. Could it just be luck that he was guessing fastball and got it? Maybe. But if I am tipping, I would like to know.”
Pham delivered his first home run with his new team in the eighth inning, a three-run shot that pulled the Diamondbacks within 7-5. The Padres answered in the next half inning, putting up three runs on reliever Scott McGough.
“It felt like we had a chance to come back, but they did a good job of adding on and kind of killed our momentum,” Pham said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
Diamondbacks' catcher Gabriel Moreno to begin rehab assignment
Catcher Gabriel Moreno will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno on Friday, serving as the designated hitter.
Moreno was placed on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation on July 23. He first faced live competition on Tuesday in the Arizona Complex League, where he caught five innings and had five at-bats.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo did not provide a timeline for Moreno’s return to the majors, but he sounded as if it could be a quick rehab stint and did not rule out the possibility of Moreno returning during next week’s series against the Rockies.
“He's obviously asymptomatic, playing in games and feeling real good,” Lovullo said. “So getting him back here is a top priority to us, but we've gotta make sure that he's feeling right. And he's passing every test so far.”
Lovullo made starter Zach Davies’ return sound less urgent. Davies, who is recovering from lower back inflammation, made his first rehab start in Reno on Thursday, allowing three runs in 4 1/3 innings. He will make another start on Tuesday.
“Yesterday, from what I understand, he was just getting his coordinates down and just getting back on the mound and he got the workload but I want to see something a little bit different in this next start,” Lovullo said. “I want to see him start to sequence some pitches and sharpen up his stuff a little bit.”
With Davies still rehabbing, it is unclear how the Diamondbacks’ rotation will shake out in the short-term. The team skipped Slade Cecconi’s turn in the rotation against the Dodgers this week. Lovullo said that he “could be” an option against the Rockies — when the Diamondbacks will next need a fifth starter — but did not commit to that option.
“For now, we're gonna focus on somebody that will come out of the bullpen tonight,” Lovullo said.
Cecconi was also available out of the bullpen in both games against the Dodgers but did not make an appearance.
—Theo Mackie
Coming up
Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (11-5, 3.37) vs. Padres LHP Rich Hill (7-11, 5.09).
Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-6, 7.16) vs. Padres RHP Seth Lugo (4-6, 4.19).
Monday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Rockies RHP Chris Flexen (1-5, 7.92).
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks drop ninth in a row in series-opening loss to Padres
