The Diamondbacks walked into the series finale needing a clean answer and got the same old knot in the stomach instead: another one-run loss, another night where the offense couldn’t cash in, and another reminder that even a team in the postseason race can’t afford to waste chances against a club just playing out the string.
Merrill Kelly was back on the mound after a shortened outing against the Rangers, and the early going never really settled for him. The first two batters of the game reached before he struck out the side in the opening inning, then things got messier in the second when he loaded the bases on a double and two walks.
Heriberto Hernandez followed with a hard grounder down the third-base line that Nolan Arenado got to and tried to turn into an out, but the throw pulled Pavin Smith off the bag and two runs crossed. There’s an argument Arenado could have simply held the ball, but he’s been such a revelation in the desert this season that the instinct to trust him there is understandable.
Miami added two more in the third when Jakob Marsee, who had a strong series, sent a two-run homer into the right-field bleachers. Kelly did settle in enough to get through five innings and finish with a season-high nine strikeouts, but the Diamondbacks needed more length from their starter than that. The good news was the bullpen kept the game alive, with Ryne Nelson, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Dennis Santana combining for 4.1 scoreless innings.
The bigger issue, though, was the offense. Arizona scored three runs, but all three came on solo home runs, and that’s been the story too often.
The Diamondbacks went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position in this game, and even when they loaded the bases with fewer than two outs in the first inning, Corbin Carroll couldn’t put the ball in play to give them a chance to bring home the runner from third. Over the series, the lineup leaned heavily on the long ball, scoring all but two of its 13 runs via home run.
That’s not a comfortable place for this roster to live, and it showed.
Jordan Lawlar’s unsuccessful steal of second base in the final play will grab attention, and sure, that was the last out. But this loss was built well before that.
Kelly was shaky early and didn’t miss enough bats when he needed to. The top half of the order outside of Moreno finished a combined 2-for-15 with a couple walks.
And Arizona never got a single hit with runners in scoring position. That includes the chance with a runner at third and fewer than two outs that also went unconverted.
The steal attempt is easy to second-guess because it “took the bat out of Marte’s hands,” and maybe Lawlar scores from first on an extra-base hit anyway. But having a runner in scoring position is still the better position to be in, and it took a near-perfect throw and tag from a rookie catcher to cut him down. That’s the kind of aggressive baseball this team seems built to play.
Still, the series as a whole was a rough one to stomach. Arizona faced a Marlins club with little beyond pride left on the road, while the Diamondbacks are fighting for a playoff spot.
Instead, the starting pitchers stumbled to a 5.66 ERA and covered only 14.1 innings, leaving the bullpen to pick up far more of the load. The offense managed just 13 runs, almost all of them on homers, and went a miserable 6-for-31 with runners in scoring position.
Now the Diamondbacks head into their off day 3.5 games behind the Padres for the final Wild Card spot with nine games left. If they miss the playoffs, a 1-5 mark against a mediocre Marlins team will be one of the reasons.
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The missed opportunity showed up in the most familiar place for a contending club: the box score with runners on base. Arizona finished 1-for-13 in those spots, and several key bats, including Pavin Smith, Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Lawlar, went quiet when the Diamondbacks needed one timely hit to cash in a strong pitching performance. In a tight NL West race, those are the kind of games that linger. [Read more 🡒]