Arizona Diamondbacks lose 5th straight, swept by Detroit Tigers as trade deadline looms

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2 days ago

DETROIT — Little more needs to be said about another Diamondbacks loss on Wednesday, July 30. The team again hurt itself with another blunder in the field from which they couldn't recover. The offense managed just two runs, bringing the total to just six in the last six games.
The Diamondbacks (51-58) lost 7-2 to the Tigers, their fifth straight loss and eighth in the past nine games, as Detroit completed a three-game series sweep at Comerica Park. They continue to lose ground in a National League wild-card race that is quickly getting away from them, though they remain numerically alive.
"It's definitely not the spot that we wanted to be in when we showed up to Scottsdale in the spring," starting pitcher Ryne Nelson said.
More importantly for the moment, the MLB trade deadline is at 3 p.m. MST on July 31. The Diamondbacks still could agree to deals that would ship up to three key veterans who mean a lot to the organization and fans.
The weight of that possibility clearly showed the past three days in Detroit. The Diamondbacks were never in any of the three games they lost to the Tigers (64-46, 1st place in AL Central), outscored 24-5.
"If something's different on Friday (after the deadline), I'm hoping that we can turn that switch on," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "I don't know how it happens, but we're going to fight. That's what I told the guys. Just get up in the middle of the ring and duke it out, and throw your best stuff."
Two players already have been traded, Josh Naylor and Randal Grichuk, and there are plenty of teams that could use proven starting pitching in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, or Eugenio Suarez's power bat.
The Diamondbacks could decide that if the season is lost at this point, now is the time to move one or all of those players for prospects or other players that could fill a need.
In the visiting team clubhouse after the game on July 30, there seemed to be no indication of an imminent move. But certainly the Diamondbacks are listening to offers.
Nelson said Kelly and Gallen have been leaders who have shown the younger pitchers what success looks like.
"It's relationships that you build and we see each other more than our families," Nelson said. "It's not a fun situation to be in, but it's something to learn from to try to not put ourselves in these spots again."
As for the game, Geraldo Perdomo had three hits and drove in the Diamondbacks' two runs. His single in the top of the fourth drove in Corbin Carroll with one out, after Carroll doubled to lead off the inning.
Perdomo also homered with two outs in the top of the ninth, his 11th of the season. But the shortstop had a rough day when not batting.
He was caught stealing in the first inning and he committed two errors on one play in the fifth when he didn't field a ground ball cleanly and threw wide to first base.
The errors opened the door for the Tigers in a three-run inning.
With two outs and a run in, Kerry Carpenter homered to right field, a two-run shot before Nelson (6-3) got out of the inning.
Nelson allowed just one earned run on six hits, with eight strikeouts in 5⅓ innings. The Tigers added three more runs in the sixth inning, the big blow a two-run home run for Jake Rogers off Arizona reliever Kyle Backhus.
"We did make a mistake that hurt," Lovullo said, referring to Perdomo's errors. "At that point we've got to rally around one another and make good things happen. It's part of the game. This team is tough, this team can figure this out and it will figure it out some point, hopefully sooner than later."
Trade deadline looms for struggling Diamondbacks
Kelly and Gallen sat together at a table inside the visiting team's clubhouse before the July 30 game.
One couldn't help but wonder if the moment would be one of their last as teammates, with both considered top targets for teams looking to make a deal with the Diamondbacks before the trade deadline.
Following the July 30 series finale against the Tigers, the next two starting pitchers in the rotation scheduled to pitch are Kelly and Gallen, in Sacramento against the Athletics — if they are still Diamondbacks after the deadline.
Lovullo said he can't imagine a rotation without the two veterans. Gallen and Kelly have both been with the Diamondbacks since 2019.
"I can't, and I won't until it actually happens, if it does happen," Lovullo said. "In baseball, we are conditioned to live day by day. Nothing is guaranteed. No matter if there is a trade deadline or not. You learn that things can change quickly, and you're replaceable, and you live in that space.
"I don't know what tomorrow brings, and I don't really think about it," Lovullo added.
Lovullo hopes things will get better for everyone after the deadline. The Diamondbacks are in a tailspin, and Lovullo said the deadline combined with the losing has been tough on the team.
Come 3 p.m. MST on July 31, the trade deadline arrives, and the Diamondbacks can move forward with whomever is still on the roster.
"It's simple math. It's a simple process. I wish it was easier on the players," Lovullo said. "I wish it was a different situation for them. But it's real. There's a real human emotion here, and I know every clubhouse is going through it."
With July 31 an off day and no game, Lovullo likes knowing the team does not play and can watch and wait. They'd be doing that anyway on a game day in the clubhouse, he said.
"I think it's probably better that we're not playing, in this particular situation that we're playing very confused baseball," Lovullo said. He has a staff outing planned on July 31.
Suarez returns to lineup
Suarez, who missed the game on July 29 after being hit in the right index finger with a pitch in the ninth inning on July 28, was back in the lineup as the DH for July 30.
Had the game been tight, Suarez would have been able to pinch-hit in what was a 12-2 loss on July 29, Lovullo said. Suarez, not wearing anything protective over his finger or hand, took swings with a bat and said he felt good enough to hit.
Suarez had three different bone scans done on his finger, and none revealed a broken bone.
In perhaps his last at-bat as a Diamondback, Suarez doubled with two outs in the ninth inning.
Coming up
July 31: Off.
Aug. 1: At Athletics, 7:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (9-6, 3.22)* vs. Athletics LHP Jacob Lopez (3-6, 4.29).
Aug. 2: At Athletics, 7:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (7-12, 5.60)* vs. Athletics RHP J.T. Ginn (2-2, 3.89)
Aug. 3: At Athletics, 1:05 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-7, 5.63) vs. Athletics LHP J.P. Sears (7-9, 4.95).
(*subject to change)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Loss to Tigers could be last game for 1 or more Diamondbacks