When the topic turned to the Milwaukee Brewers during Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s pregame session with reporters, it did not take long for him to mention last September. A season removed from missing the playoffs by one game, Lovullo is still haunted by the day in Milwaukee when his team blew an eight-run lead.
“I think about that all the time,” Lovullo said.
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If the Diamondbacks and their manager were hoping to move past their issues with the Brewers, they will have to wait another night. The Diamondbacks did not blow a huge lead, but they were beaten nonetheless, 7-0, at Chase Field.
The Diamondbacks hit a number of balls hard but managed just four hits. They continued to make costly mistakes, including a passed ball that led to an extra run and a pick-off at first base. And their bullpen couldn’t keep the game close in the late innings, as the Brewers blew things open with four runs in the ninth.
Instead of following a crisp performance in their win over the Baltimore Orioles two days earlier, the Diamondbacks were stifled by Brewers lefty Jose Quintana, who faced just one batter over the minimum across seven scoreless innings.
“I think anytime you come out flat after a good outing and also after an off day, it’s frustrating,” the Diamondbacks’ Randal Grichuk said. “I felt like we were prepared. The energy was going good pregame. You’ve just got to tip your cap to him. He made some good pitches tonight.”
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Said Lovullo: “It was not a good day today. We got beat in every area.”
In Milwaukee last September, the Diamondbacks owned an 8-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings but lost, 10-9. It is a game often referenced by Lovullo, not just because of what it meant in the standings, but also because of what he believed was a “hangover” effect that stretched into the following days.
Lovullo said there was one thing he wished he had done differently that day: he wished he had asked pitcher Yilber Diaz to try to go one more inning rather than go deeper into his bullpen.
Unlike that game, there were no such moments this night.
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The Diamondbacks could muster little against Quintana, who was making his first start of the season after signing midway through spring training. He was excellent, erasing each of the first three baserunners he allowed on a pair of double play balls and a pickoff of Jake McCarthy at first base, the second time the Diamondbacks have been nabbed off first this season.
“We’ve got to be better there,” Lovullo said of the pick-off.
Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) in what was the best of his three starts this season.
With runners on first and second in the fifth, the Brewers’ Christian Yelich squared to bunt before pulling back, and the pitch clanked off catcher Gabriel Moreno’s midsection. It looked like it could have been a cross-up, but Lovullo said his catcher was blinded.
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“There’s a technique and a style to it; you got to give the hitter some credit,” Lovullo said. “You drag the bat right back in the catcher’s eyes in the line of the ball and that’s what happened. He got blinded for a second and missed the ball.”
The runners each moved up 90 feet, then scored on Yelich’s groundout and William Contreras’ sacrifice fly.
The Diamondbacks hit eight balls at 95 mph or harder that weren’t straight up or straight down; only three fell for hits. Still, Lovullo was not satisfied with his team’s offensive approach.
“I think we came out a little too hungry, trying to do too much damage and not getting into that give and take, cat and mouse game with a really good starting pitcher,” Lovullo said. “He knows how to pitch.”
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—Nick Piecoro
A timeline for return of Ketel Marte
The Arizona Diamondbacks are hoping to get second baseman Ketel Marte back from the injured list in late April or early May, manager Torey Lovullo said.
Marte has been on the injured list since suffering a Grade 1 strain, the least severe, of his left hamstring in a game against the Washington Nationals on April 4.
Lovullo said Marte indicated from the day the injury happened that he might not need too much time on the injured list.
“When he said it was a grab instead of a yank or a pull or it feels like he got stabbed, which have been some of his comments (in the past), I felt like we were in a really good spot,” Lovullo said before Arizona hosted Milwaukee April 11.
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“He said it felt like a cramp, something grabbed him, and it’s not nearly as bad as it had been in the past.”
Lovullo puts significant stock in what Marte says in part because of Marte’s extensive track record of hamstring issues. He suffered at least three significant hamstring injuries during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
“We’ve got to let him heal,” Lovullo said. “It’s going to be weeks; I’ve said that from the very beginning. Hopefully it’s before the end of the month. If not, it will be a short time after that.”
Meanwhile, relievers Kevin Ginkel (shoulder) and Kendall Graveman (back) continued to make progress in their recoveries from injury. Both threw bullpens April 11, Lovullo said.
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Ginkel’s next step will be to face hitters in a live batting practice session April 15. He is expected to go on a rehab assignment at some point, Lovullo said.
Graveman likely will throw at least another bullpen session before advancing to facing hitters, Lovullo said.
Ginkel made it most of the way through camp before going down with shoulder inflammation, throwing six innings in spring training games. Graveman, however, did not appear in a Cactus League game.
—Nick Piecoro
Coming up
Saturday, April 12: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Corbin Burnes (0-1, 5.79) vs. Brewers RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 2.45).
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Sunday, April 13: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (1-2, 5.28) vs. Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta (1-1, 2.00).
Monday, April 14: Off.
Tuesday, April 15: At Miami, 3:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (2-1, 7.20) vs. Marlins RHP Max Meyer (1-1, 2.00).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks stifled by Milwaukee Brewers in a game to forget
