Davies, Walker reward trade-deadline faith, lead Diamondbacks past Rockies

Typically, major league managers are not involved in trade discussions. So earlier this week, while the Diamondbacks front office spent the lead up to Tuesday’s trade deadline debating the future of multiple pieces of their 26-man roster, Lovullo was in the dark. Like everyone else, he spent those days reading articles about what the Diamondbacks might do.

At the end of it, Lovullo found himself with a roster mostly intact. After trading David Peralta to Tampa Bay, the Diamondbacks’ only move was swapping reliever Luke Weaver for backup third baseman Emmanuel Rivera.

That meant, among other things, holding on to No. 4 starter Zach Davies and slugging first baseman Christian Walker, both of whom were reported to be involved in trade discussions.

“I love those guys,” Lovullo said. “… They've been fantastic for us all year long.”

On Sunday, they were yet again, providing much of the difference in the Diamondbacks’ series-clinching 6-4 win over the Rockies.

SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | INJURIES

In the case of Davies, the Diamondbacks held on to an expiring contract who, in theory, provides little value to a team outside of playoff contention. But this season, players and coaches alike have spoken of a winning culture that didn’t exist in last year’s 52-110 finish. Players like Davies make that possible. While Arizona’s other back-end rotation options have been wobbly, Davies — who has a 4.03 ERA — was a steady presence before missing all of July with shoulder inflammation.

Against the Rockies, he provided that poise yet again. He struggled early on, loading the bases with one out in the first and allowing a leadoff double in the second. But after getting out of both those jams, he began throwing more fastballs and fewer pitches down in the zone. The tweak paid off with three straight 1-2-3 innings.

“Just kinda recognized their approach for the day and tried to work around that,” Davies said. “It was leaving everything down in the zone alone and staying off-speed pitches. So tried to work to combat that and got better results and was able to flip the script from letting guys get comfortable in the box.”

The five scoreless innings marked a major step forward for Davies, who allowed four runs in two innings last time out after the Diamondbacks eschewed a rehab assignment — a move presumably made to showcase Davies’ health to potential trade deadline buyers. It was also among the best performances from the back of the Diamondbacks rotation since he got hurt.

Then there’s Walker. With two-plus years of control remaining, the Diamondbacks decision not to deal him was more consequential. In the lead up to the trade deadline, general manager Mike Hazen repeatedly spoke of not wanting to make the major league roster worse and create more off-season holes to fill. By keeping Walker — who has good surface-level stats but elite batted ball data — Hazen backed up those words.

On Sunday, Walker rewarded Hazen’s faith. His 431-foot two-run homer in the first inning was his third since the start of August and his 26th of the season.

“Christian's just been the anchor in that '4' hole for us,” Lovullo said. “The fact that (he and Davies are) here, I love it. And I think the organization made a statement by saying we want you guys here as we keep moving forward.”

Walker and Davies’ contributions alone weren’t enough for the win Sunday — not after Kevin Ginkel allowed four runs in a disastrous sixth inning.

To get there, the Diamondbacks required a sixth inning home run from Rivera, a seventh inning double from Josh Rojas and a two-run eighth inning rally. Then, in the ninth, Lovullo had to call on Mark Melancon — who was stripped of the closer’s role earlier this week — with Ian Kennedy unavailable and Joe Mantiply having extinguished Ginkel’s fire. Melancon loaded the bases before getting Randal Grichuk on a game-ending groundout.

“Easy groundball to shortstop, that’s a good feeling,” Melancon said.

But despite all the late-inning twists, it was still Davies and Walker who set the Diamondbacks on the path to a win that, had Tuesday unfolded differently, might never have come.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Davies, Walker reward trade-deadline faith, lead D-Backs past Rockies