Another promising start wasted as Diamondbacks collapse vs. Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — A closer, it turns out, is only useful if you can get the ball to him. So on Tuesday night, Paul Sewald could do nothing but watch as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell to their latest loss, squandering their latest chance at momentum in the process.

This one, a 4-3 loss, came against the Giants. The score that hints at the opportunity the Diamondbacks saw slip away.

Consider where they stood with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. A night after an encouraging extra-innings win, they led, 3-0. Their ace, Zac Gallen, was on the mound. He had thrown just 77 pitches. The bases were empty. Sewald, their prized trade deadline acquisition, was waiting in the bullpen. And if, despite all that, they managed to blow the lead, the Giants’ four most trusted relievers were likely unavailable.

And yet, an hour later, the Diamondbacks walked off the field with yet another loss, this one their 16th in 23 games. It was, as manager Torey Lovullo admitted afterward, “a little bit” of a kick in the gut.

The first domino to fall was a small one, an innocuous single the other way from Blake Sabol. Luis Matos then laid off a pair of two-strike sliders, working the count full and forcing Gallen to give him a pitch in the strike zone. Gallen did not regret the fastball he went with over the outer third, but Matos was able to line it into right-center field and get the Giants on the board.

The real blow came two pitches later. After getting Brandon Crawford to swing under a high fastball, Gallen wanted to go inside with another fastball. Instead, he left it out over the plate for Crawford to hit 420 feet into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, tying the game at three.

It was, for Gallen, the latest continuation of a concerning trend. Since the start of June, he has allowed 13 homers in 11 starts, pitching to a 4.12 ERA in that span. Each of his last three starts has been full of positive signs. Against the Braves, he took a perfect game into the sixth. Against the Cardinals, he struck out eight. Against the Giants, he delivered five scoreless. But each time, he’s been foiled by the long ball. And each time, the Diamondbacks have lost.

“I wish I knew (what the issue is),” Gallen said. “Obviously it's not how you draw it up. You don't wanna give up homers. It's, for a lack of a better word, free runs. But I'm gonna figure it out, see what the deal is.”

Compounding the three runs Gallen allowed was the knock-on effect. Because Gallen struggled to finish the sixth, running his pitch count to 91, Lovullo called for Miguel Castro to start the seventh instead of being able to leave his ace on the mound.

And Castro, since the start of June, has a 6.30 ERA. On Tuesday, he couldn’t get his slider to have its ideal shape and had to lean on his sinker. LaMonte Wade Jr. was the beneficiary, waiting for that sinker on a 3-1 count. Castro left it over the middle and Wade crushed it out to right field, giving the Giants their first lead.

Remember, though, the Giants’ bullpen situation. Ryan Walker, a 27-year-old rookie with 36 career innings, was on the mound for the eighth. In the ninth, it was Sean Manaea and his 5.48 ERA. In each inning, the Diamondbacks managed a leadoff single.

What did they do with them? In the eighth, Carson Kelly showed for a bunt — a play that gives the baserunner, in this case Jace Peterson, the option to steal second if he’s able to get a good jump. But Kelly pulled his bunt back on a slider away, enabling Giants’ catcher Patrick Bailey to comfortably beat Peterson with his throw to second base.

“It just took a perfect throw,” Lovullo said. “And we know Bailey's able to do that. So that was our mistake.”

Diamondbacks MLB trade deadline rewind: Arizona acquires New York Mets' Tommy Pham

It may have been Bailey’s second caught stealing of the game, but the worst was yet to come. With two outs in the ninth, Geraldo Perdomo offered the Diamondbacks a faint glimmer of hope at first base. But on a fastball up and away to Christian Walker, Perdomo strayed too far from the bag, enabling Bailey to end the game with a backpick.

This time, Lovullo had less of an explanation.

“Can't happen times infinity,” Lovullo said. “We're better than that.”

Of late, they haven’t been.

Diamondbacks' acquisitions excited to join contender

SAN FRANCISCO — Paul Sewald and Jace Peterson, two of the Diamondbacks’ trade deadline acquisitions, offered the same tone in their first meetings with reporters Tuesday afternoon: The Diamondbacks may be struggling of late, but they’re excited to join a team with a young, energetic core.

For Peterson, the calculus is more obvious. He was traded to Arizona from the Athletics — swapping the worst team in baseball for a playoff race.

“You always enjoy the guys that you're going to battle with, but when you're in the course of the season and you get an opportunity to get traded to a team who's contended and in a race and obviously, the team here is really, really good,” Peterson said.

Sewald is in a different spot. He arrives from the Mariners, who are only 3 1/2 games out of the playoffs. Still, he’s known for the last month that he could be on the move. In that sense, the trade is a relief.

“Once we get moved to Phoenix, everything will be very nice,” Sewald said. “It's been eating at me a lot. It's been tough on my wife, trying to figure out what is gonna happen, just the unknown. But we're so lucky that we're going to a place that we've already loved. We have friends and family down there. And that makes it a lot easier and we know the area.”

It helps the transition, Sewald said, that he’ll be meeting a few familiar faces in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse. He and Scott McGough have known each other for years, while Kyle Lewis was on the Mariners alongside him for the past three seasons. Tommy Pham, for whom the Diamondbacks traded on Tuesday, has been a friend since high school.

Those relationships, along with the Diamondbacks’ place in the standings, help ease the emotion of leaving a place where Sewald had established himself as a high-level reliever.

In parts of four seasons with the Mets from 2017-20, he had a 5.50 ERA in 147 1/3 innings. But since signing with the Mariners prior to the 2021 season, he has a 2.88 ERA in 171 2/3 innings, earning the closer’s role in the process.

“I changed everything that I do about how I throw,” Sewald said. “I went from trying to throw the ball down and away to throwing the ball at the top of the zone or … trying to throw sliders that have depth. I just throw fastballs at the top and sweep sliders as much as I can. I like to think of it, it's easy to catch, it's not as easy to hit.”

Sewald only averages 92 mph with his fastball but throws from an unusually low arm angle while also generating excellent spin that enables him to get batters to swing under the pitch.

“One of my favorite things,” Sewald said, “is to just blow somebody away with a 90 or 91 mph fastball and they just look up at the scoreboard like it doesn't make any sense, shake their heads.”

Slade Cecconi to make debut vs. Giants on Wednesday

SAN FRANCISCO — Right-hander Slade Cecconi will make his debut for the Diamondbacks on Wednesday against the Giants.

With Tommy Henry and Zach Davies both on the injured list, the Diamondbacks are down to four starting pitchers who have previously pitched in the major leagues. They engaged in the trade market for a starter, but were unable to find a suitable deal in a strong seller’s market.

So when the deadline passed Tuesday afternoon, they were left only with in-house options to fill the void before Henry’s return, which is anticipated at some point this month. Cecconi’s 6.38 ERA in Triple-A Reno does not inspire, but his underlying stats provide some optimism. He is striking out 9.1 batters per nine and walking 2.5 batters per nine in Reno, which is a notoriously hitter-friendly environment.

The Diamondbacks selected Cecconi 33rd overall in the 2020 draft.

“Getting Slade up to speed, getting him ready and gameplanning, we felt like his stuff fit to help us win a baseball game tomorrow,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks option Peter Strzelecki among spate of roster moves

SAN FRANCISCO — The Diamondbacks made five roster moves Tuesday afternoon as they filled out their 26-man and 40-man rosters following the trade deadline.

The most notable move came as they optioned right-handed reliever Peter Strzelecki to Triple-A Reno. Strzelecki, 29, was the return for Andrew Chafin, whom the Diamondbacks sent to Milwaukee earlier in the day.

Strzelecki has been in Triple-A with the Brewers' organization for the past month, but was acquired to provide a different look at the front end of the Diamondbacks' bullpen when he does eventually return to the majors. He has a 4.54 ERA in 36 MLB appearances this season. Last year, he had a 2.83 ERA in 30 appearances.

Both players whom the Diamondbacks traded for on Monday — closer Paul Sewald and infielder Jace Peterson — reported to the major league club. Peterson is in the lineup, playing third base and batting seventh.

They also recalled left-hander Joe Mantiply from Triple-A. To round out the moves, infielder Diego Castillo was optioned after just one day in the majors and right-hander Cole Sulser was designated for assignment.

Diamondbacks at Giants, 6:45 p.m., Oracle Park

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (11-5, 3.36) vs. Giants RHP Alex Cobb (6-3, 2.97).

Gallen has not been his most dominant self of late, with a 4.45 ERA in July. In fact, since his scoreless innings streak came to a close at the end of April, Gallen has a 3.82 ERA in 16 starts. Last year, he had a 2.54 ERA in 31 starts. ... Last time out, Gallen struck out eight batters, his second most since the end of April. In that outing, though, he allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings as the Diamondbacks lost to the Cardinals. ... Cobb is having another excellent year for the Giants, with whom he signed as a free agent prior to the 2022 season. ... Cobb struck out nine in six scoreless innings against the Athletics in his last start. ... In his only start against the Diamondbacks this year, Cobb pitched 7 1/3 scoreless.

Coming up

Wednesday: At San Francisco, 6:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Slade Cecconi (4-8, 6.38) vs. Giants RHP Logan Webb (8-9, 3.49).

Thursday: At San Francisco, 12:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-4, 8.20) vs. Giants TBA.

Friday: At Minnesota, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (9-5, 3.23) vs. Twins RHP Bailey Ober (6-5, 3.19).

What to know about the San Francisco Giants

The Giants entered Sunday in second place in the National League West, three games back of the Dodgers. It’s not a bad place to be in, but after getting swept in three games by the Nationals and dropping another to the Tigers in recent days, the Giants have to feel like they missed a chance to gain more ground in the division and wild card races. The Giants are averaging 4.5 runs per game, ranking eighth in the NL, but their pitching staff is third with a 3.94 ERA. 1B Wilmer Flores is having a strong year at the plate, hitting .297/.357/.534; he has been especially hot in recent weeks, hitting .413 with five homers over his past 18 games. DH Joc Pederson has also hit well, with a .837 OPS and 11 homers in 204 at-bats. 2B Thairo Estrada is on the injured list with a fractured left hand. OF Mitch Haniger also is out with a fractured forearm. RHPs Alex Cobb (2.97) and Logan Webb (3.49) have led the way in the rotation. RHP Anthony DeSclafani is on the injured list with an elbow strain.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks bullpen takes loss vs. San Francisco Giants