Nick Piecoro,Theo MackieArizona Republic
If the first two-plus months are any indication, National League teams will not be falling out of the hunt for the playoffs with a bad week or two. Not with eight teams bunched together in a race for the final two wild-card spots, all of whom have thus far been unable to distinguish themselves.
And so it is with great caution that anyone would describe the Diamondbacks’ current stretch of games as critical or must-win — they could lose half or more of them and still find themselves just a few games back — but one thing seems clear:
When this week began, the Diamondbacks had a chance to find the momentum that has eluded them all season, and after an 11-1 bludgeoning of the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night, that opportunity still exists.
The Diamondbacks did not fully capitalize on facing a subpar Angels team, but in taking two of three games, they didn’t fall flat, either. With the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox, headed to town for a three-game series — and with their ace, lefty Garrett Crochet, not scheduled to pitch — the Diamondbacks could realistically find themselves a .500 team by the end of the weekend.
Christian Walker blasted a pair of homers, Joc Pederson hit a grand slam and Kevin Newman had three hits in Thursday's win. Brandon Pfaadt turned in six strong innings. And a poor Angels club limped out of town losers of five of their past six series.
“Yesterday was not a great game for us,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of Wednesday night’s 8-3 loss. “We got pushed around a little bit. This team rebounded, and those are the things I look for most. And, yeah, probably another real important win to say we won a series.”
Walker blasted a three-run homer to left in the first, putting the Diamondbacks ahead for good. Walker’s second homer made it 4-1, which was where things stood before a six-run seventh put the game out of reach, an inning highlighted by Pederson’s slam.
“When Walker homers twice, gets the party started, I think it’s a lot easier for us to attack the zone and pitch,” Pfaadt said. “It frees up the zone a lot to do that.”
At 33-36, the Diamondbacks are part of the logjam of eight teams within three games of each other in the standings. They are not the best version of themselves at the moment, not with three-fifths of the rotation residing on the injured list.
But Lovullo has been saying he wants his team not just to hold serve until his pitching is back, he wants it to break serve every now and then. Lately, they have been. They have won eight of 12 since the calendar flipped to June, winning two series and splitting another.
Right-hander Zac Gallen ought to be back within a couple of weeks, and right-hander Merrill Kelly and lefty Eduardo Rodriguez should follow in July. Lovullo was asked if he had a marker in mind for where he wants his team to be when the pitchers return.
“I always want to be over .500,” Lovullo said. “You always want to be on the positive side of things. That’s always a good starting point, but I don’t want it to end there. I want to just keep running the race as fast as we can, as hard as we can.
“It’s hard to say because I don’t know when everybody is coming back. But we’re starting to play better baseball and that’s been very pleasing.”
After the White Sox series comes an East Coast trip through Washington and Philadelphia. That will be followed by a homestand against the Twins and Athletics. The schedule gets daunting in July, which opens with successive series against the Dodgers, Padres, Braves and Blue Jays leading into the All-Star break.
“We prepare like we’ve got to win every game that we possibly can and like it is going to come down to one game,” Lovullo said. “It is, for sure. It did last year, and this team understands that. Every day is important. We don’t like to waste days, for sure.”
—Nick Piecoro
Zac Gallen set for another step in rehab process
Zac Gallen is scheduled to throw a simulated game against live hitters at Salt Rivers Fields on Monday, according to manager Torey Lovullo.
Gallen, who is working his way back from a Grade 1 hamstring strain, will throw a 35-pitch bullpen session on Friday ahead of the sim game. He previously threw a 31-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday — his first time getting on a mound since sustaining the injury on May 30 in New York.
The next steps for Gallen after Monday — assuming all goes well — are not yet clear.
“Once we get that, we'll see how he feels and figure out what to do from there,” Lovullo said. “Whether it's a couple more bullpens, another sim game, one bullpen and a sim game, we're not sure exactly.”
Regardless, Gallen is nearing a much-needed return. With Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez all on the shelf, the Diamondbacks’ rotation has been severely compromised in recent weeks. Among their healthy starting pitchers, only Brandon Pfaadt (4.60 ERA) has an ERA under 5.00.
—Theo Mackie
Friday’s Diamondbacks-White Sox pitching matchup
White Sox at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (3-5, 5.96) vs. White Sox RHP Chris Flexen (2-5, 5.06).
At Chase Field: Nelson had one of the better starts of his career on June 3, throwing 7⅔ innings in a win over the Giants, but he could not follow that up with another strong performance, instead giving up six runs (five earned) in 3⅓ innings against the Padres last weekend in San Diego. … He faced the White Sox once last season, going 4⅔ scoreless innings with two walks and four strikeouts in a start in September. … Flexen, 29, is in his seventh season in the majors, having pitched for the Mets, Mariners and Rockies prior to joining the White Sox as a free agent in the offseason. … He has worked exactly five innings in three consecutive starts, most recently giving up two runs to the Red Sox on Sunday. … He faced the Diamondbacks twice last season, giving up 10 runs in 8⅓ innings, walking three and striking out nine.
Coming up
Saturday: At Chase Field, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. White Sox RHP Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.10).
Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Jordan Montgomery (4-4, 6.58) vs. White Sox RHP Drew Thorpe (0-0, 1.80).
Monday: Off.
Tuesday: At Washington, 3:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Slade Cecconi (1-5, 6.70) vs. Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (5-5, 3.00).
What to know about the Chicago White Sox
The White Sox are off to a miserable start, which isn’t a surprise for a club that is in a rebuild, but their 17-52 record entering Thursday night is horrendous nevertheless, putting them on pace for a 122-loss season. That puts them in danger of threatening the 1962 New York Mets’ record of 120 losses. They snapped a 14-game losing streak last week, winning back-to-back games, but proceeded to lose their next four entering Thursday, with two of those losses coming via walk-offs. The White Sox recently got LF Andrew Benintendi back from the injured list. He was out with an Achilles injury. They could get OF Tommy Pham back on Friday; he is returning from a left ankle sprain. They are without several other players they hoped would be key contributors, including DH Eloy Jimenez, OF Dominic Fletcher and 3B Yoan Moncada. LHP Garrett Crochet, whom the Diamondbacks will not face, has been one of the better starters in baseball, with a 3.33 ERA and a league-leading 103 strikeouts in 75⅔ innings. SS Paul DeJong has a .772 OPS with 13 homers.
