Despite loss to Mets, Diamondbacks hold onto wildcard spot

NEW YORK — Thinking back through how Tuesday night’s game unfolded, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo lamented his team’s inability to come through in key situations, then second-guessed a decision he made in one of them.

But by the end of his postgame session with reporters, Lovullo had settled on a more simplified explanation for why his team dropped a 7-4 decision to the New York Mets at Citi Field.

“The bottom line is, we didn’t pitch well early on and the lead was just a little bit too big,” Lovullo said. “We couldn’t come back.”

That version of events is hard to dispute. Right-hander Ryne Nelson was hit hard in 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs, four of them coming via a pair of two-run homers. By the time he departed, the Diamondbacks trailed, 6-1.

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And yet the game was not nearly over. Twice in the late innings, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases. Twice they bounced into inning-ending double plays. On one of them, Lovullo seemed to wonder if he was mostly to blame.

The Diamondbacks pushed a run home in the sixth and had the bases juiced with one out and light-hitting catcher Jose Herrera due to hit. Lovullo called him back and instead sent up Evan Longoria as a pinch hitter.

The move was logical in a couple of ways: Longoria is the sort of veteran hitter Lovullo felt could at least get a ball in the air to bring home a run, if not deliver a big hit to do more damage. Moreover, he was facing a reliever in right-hander Grant Hartwig, who has struggled this year against right-handed hitters.

But Longoria was jammed on the second pitch of the at-bat and rolled a grounder to third for an easy, inning-ending double play.

Lovullo wondered if he shouldn’t have either stuck with the switch-hitting Herrera or sent up lefty Jake McCarthy, who was brought up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day.

“I thought we could get some slug there,” Lovullo said. “It didn’t happen. That’s the one. You can think twice about that, for sure.”

There was no decision to make when the situation arose in the eighth. The Diamondbacks had already scored twice in the inning, taking advantage of an erratic Sam Coonrod, and had their best hitter, Corbin Carroll, at the plate with one out and the bases loaded.

The Mets went to reliever Adam Ottavino, who got Carroll to slap a ball to third to start yet another threat-killing double play. Carroll appeared to be trying to shoot the ball through a hole on the left side but instead hit it right at third baseman Brett Baty.

“I thought it was a really good situation for us,” Lovullo said. “We had the very top of the lineup coming up with the bases loaded and one out and we didn’t execute. We didn’t close the gap like I thought we would. I thought we would at least make it 6-5 and put ourselves in a position to play one-run down in the ninth inning. It didn’t happen.”

The Diamondbacks went just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Of course, had the Diamondbacks not fallen behind early in game, those plays might not have been so magnified. The outing amounted to a step back for Nelson. Last week, in his first game back from Triple-A Reno, he pitched well at Wrigley Field. But on Tuesday he again struggled with his secondary stuff, then watched as opposing hitters punished his fastball.

Nelson allowed one run through three innings, the only damage coming after a nasty hop led to a leadoff triple in the third. But things began to fall apart in the fourth, when rookie Ronny Mauricio demolished a high fastball for his first career homer, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.

The fifth inning was no better. Brandon Nimmo lined a fastball into the right-field corner for a double. Francisco Lindor shot another fastball to right for a run-scoring single. Two batters later, Pete Alonso destroyed a belt-high fastball from Nelson, lining it into the left-field seats and bringing an end to Nelson’s night.

“Definitely the two home runs you could say maybe I shouldn’t have thrown a fastball there,” Nelson said. “But also if I execute a couple of sliders earlier in those at-bats, it plays a little bit better. I think it was a couple of predictable fastballs.”

The Diamondbacks saw their lead for the final wild-card card spot shrink to a half-game.

“Every game is super important,” Nelson said. “This one was on me. That doesn’t feel good.”

Diamondbacks recall Jake McCarthy, option Pavin Smith

NEW YORK — The Diamondbacks recalled outfielder Jake McCarthy from Triple-A Reno, where he has been scorching hot at the plate in recent weeks.

McCarthy, who had been in the midst of his second stint in Reno, had gone 33 for 72 (.458) with seven doubles, two triples and four homers over his past 15 games.

“Jake did exactly what we wanted him to do,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s been impacting the baseball, 100-mph-plus (exit velocities), and it just keeps getting better and better.”

McCarthy takes the place of outfielder Pavin Smith, who was optioned to Reno after going just 1-for-7 with four walks in limited chances since rejoining the club on Sept. 1.

Where McCarthy will fit into the Diamondbacks’ outfield mix remains to be seen. Smith started just twice during his nearly two-week stint, and with Corbin Carroll Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. seemingly locked into everyday roles and Alek Thomas starting every day against right-handers, that could leave only to the occasional start for McCarthy.

That said, McCarthy does have a chance to impact games in other ways that Smith could not, including entering as a late-game defensive replacement or as a pinch-runner, a role in which McCarthy could be a weapon.

“I think there’s a little bit more versatility with Jake,” Lovullo said. “Defensive versatility, running speed, all of that part of the game, I think I favor Jake. I think they’re very comparable hitters. Pavin can hit. But I just think where we’re at right now we want a very dynamic player who can fill in a bunch of different gaps for us.”

DBacks-Cubs game moved to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball

NEW YORK — The Diamondbacks’ series finale on Sunday at Chase Field against the Chicago Cubs has been moved into the national spotlight.

The game will be shown on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, the first time the Diamondbacks have been given that timeslot for a game since May 13, 2018 vs. the Washington Nationals.

The game, which had been scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m., will now start at 4:10 p.m.

Diamondbacks at Mets, 4:10 p.m., Citi Field

Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-7, 5.30) vs. Mets RHP Jose Butto (0-2, 3.86).

Nelson threw well in his return from Triple-A Reno on Thursday night at Wrigley Field, holding the Cubs to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three. … Nelson was pitching in the majors for the first time since mid-August. He made four starts in Reno, logging a 3.74 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. … He was hit hard by the Mets on July 6, giving up seven runs in three innings at Chase Field. … Butto might be the starter or might just get the bulk out of the work out of the bullpen. He has made five appearances (three starts) for the Mets this season, most recently giving up two runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Nationals on Wednesday. … In 91 innings with Triple-A Syracuse, Butto logged a 5.93 ERA with 49 walks and 82 strikeouts. … He averages 93.9 mph with his fastball. He has also been throwing a change-up and slider with regularity during his time in the big leagues.

Coming up

Wednesday: At New York, 4:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (15-7, 3.31) vs. Mets TBA.

Thursday: At New York, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (11-6, 3.16) vs. Mets RHP Kodai Senga (10-7, 3.07).

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-8, 6.25) vs. Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-7, 3.71).

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks fail to get hits when it mattered in loss to Mets