PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have been able to tread water through inconsistencies but losses like Wednesday’s 7-1 final to the New York Mets will make you wonder how much longer they can do so.
They might be sinking already. Arizona is now 19-18 and has lost nine of its last 14.
The mistakes that have unfortunately defined part of the D-backs’ short season to this point were there early and often on Wednesday.
“It just was one of those days that didn’t have a great feel to it from where I was and we just couldn’t get rolling,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said postgame.
Corbin Carroll was thrown out trying to steal second in the first inning, second baseman Tim Tawa goofed on a routine grounder in the top of the second and then Eugenio Suarez was thrown out at home in the bottom-half.
The play at the plate was more of an outstanding maneuver by Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor on the quick transition into the throw and the throw itself, but is still the type of issue that keeps coming up.
Mets ace Kodai Senga walked back-to-back hitters to begin the bottom of the third inning, including to the nine-hole spot in backup catcher Jose Herrera. It was the third straight time Senga had walked the opening batter and put his total on the afternoon to five, matching his career-high (5) and surpassing his season high (3).
Bizarrely, the D-backs then decided to bunt on a pitcher struggling to throw strikes.
Geraldo Perdomo, known for executing those plays consistently, took ball one before bunting the ball just a few feet in front of the catcher for an easy force out at third base. Lovullo clarified postgame that was his decision.
The next man up, Pavin Smith, swung at the first pitch he saw for an inning-ending double play. It was a wonderful fastball to hit over the heart of the zone, but if Smith is going to swing there, that is the one result that cannot happen.
Wouldn’t you know it, Senga went on to find a rhythm after that, tacking on those two outs to start a streak of retiring 11 of his last 12 batters.
All of these hiccups become more pronounced now that the expectation is for them to come. They are easy to write off when it is not a common theme of these games or if just one or two happen a game. But there are at least a dozen D-backs games already that have this storyline, even with the variance on how costly the goofs are. It does not set a good foundation.
Mets star outfielder Juan Soto in the sixth sent a Merill Kelly fastball to Jupiter, otherwise known as the Barry Bonds zone of Chase Field, the walkway above right-center field where the all-time hitter against a division rival sent a handful of baseballs few could. Soto is one of the few and the 427-foot solo blast was the first run of the game.
That was the only real damage to Kelly through six innings that lacked any threats. But New York managed a double, single and triple off him in the seventh for two more runs to extend the lead to 3-0. With the Mets’ Jeff McNeil on third after the triple and one out, D-backs reliever Jalen Beeks entered and stranded him there.
In the bottom-half, the D-backs got runners on the corners with two outs, prompting Lovullo to pinch-hit Herrera with Ketel Marte. Marte grounded out.
Soto homered again his next time up, this time going oppo for another solo dinger in the eighth.
Carroll got that run back with his own solo long ball, this one bouncing off the top of the yellow lining in deep center. He reached base four times on the afternoon, with two walks and a single on top of the homer.
Lindor smacked a two-RBI double off Arizona’s Jose Castillo in the ninth for two insurance runs. Soto produced a third with a sac fly for his third RBI of the day.
Senga’s six scoreless innings did not come close to matching the eye test and that made this a giant missed opportunity. He tied his career-high for walks with five and also allowed two hits.
Senga has been dominant to begin the year, entering the day as one of only four starting pitchers in baseball to limit his earned run total to two or fewer in every outing (with at least five starts).
The source of his mastery has always been his forkball, and it is still leaving hitters clueless two years after his MLB debut. There were only three hits off it coming into Wednesday, all of them singles, per Baseball Savant.
The forkball, however, was not working on Wednesday. A pitch with a 43.4% whiff rate produced only one swing and miss on 19 tries, with 13 of those being balls. One of Arizona’s two hits off Senga, a Carroll single, was off that forkball.
Senga, in general, does not allow slug. Six outings and 32.2 innings yielded only seven extra base hits — five doubles, one triple and a single homer. This was the part of Senga’s form he was able to maintain, Arizona managed a double via Alek Thomas.
This was Kelly’s first outing since exiting with his latest cramping issue, and this came in perfectly fine Philadelphia weather, as opposed to the problems that have most prominently occurred at Chase Field in the summer for Kelly.
Arizona and Kelly have been incredibly diligent about trying to track down the source of it, with Kelly meeting with many medical experts and continuing to do so recently. Several hydration plans and other attempts have been made to nullify it. Fans are even sending Kelly boxes full of jarred pickles.
Kelly finished at three earned runs in 6.1 innings pitched off six hits and zero walks. He struck out six.
