Diamondbacks' new pen fails in familiar fashion in loss to Padres

SAN DIEGO — Reliever Scott McGough did not need to turn to watch the ball sail over the left-field wall. He knew it was gone. Ha-Seong Kim had just done what David Dahl did moments earlier on Monday night at Petco Park.

It was a game the Diamondbacks were positioned to win in astounding fashion. Instead, Dahl and Kim’s back-to-back homers to open the bottom of the ninth lifted the San Diego Padres to a 5-4 victory, sending the Diamondbacks on a long, slow and familiar walk off the field.

Last year, the Diamondbacks were walked off 11 times. They suffered 41 relief losses. Both categories tied for the most in the majors. The futility was enough to lead the organization to rebuild its bullpen almost from scratch.

Three-quarters of the Diamondbacks’ relievers this year are new either to the organization or to their role. And yet Monday night’s loss had the feel of so many that came before it last season.

“I’ve got to live with it,” McGough said. “I let the boys down today, but I’ll just go back at it tomorrow.”

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The Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll had three hits, including a game-tying, solo homer in the seventh. Evan Longoria connected for a go-ahead shot in the top of the ninth. Right-hander Ryne Nelson labored through the first two innings of his start but settled in to give his team five decent innings.

The loss dropped the Diamondbacks to 2-3. They will look to end both this brief, two-game series and their season-opening road trip with an even record when they face the Padres again on Tuesday afternoon.

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Their bullpen likely will be in the spotlight again. Already this season, the Diamondbacks have closed out a pair of tense, one-run victories, both at Dodger Stadium. On Friday night, lefty Andrew Chafin retired three consecutive batters with the tying run on board to pick up a save. On Sunday, McGough came on and quickly retired the final two batters for his first career save.

But the bullpen will now have to show it can recover from an ugly loss. It will have to show it is not last year’s bullpen.

“I think we’re beyond that,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know I am. We’ve got some guys that are coming out of the bullpen and doing a great job. There was a couple of misfires and we got clipped. It doesn’t happen very often, back-to-back homers to the first two batters of the ninth inning. You don’t see that in baseball very often. We’ll find a way to get it figured out.”

McGough jumped ahead of Dahl with a fastball for strike one, but left a splitter fluttering over the outer half of the plate. Dahl went with it, muscling it out to left-center field. Kim was ahead in the count, 3-1, when McGough went with a slider. The pitch barely moved. Kim laced it into the seats.

McGough spent the past four years pitching in leverage roles with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. He pitched in high-pressure situations on the biggest stage, doing so as with all eyes on him as a foreigner. He was not perfect, but when he failed he found ways to bounce back. He hopes he can do the same now.

“I’ve been doing this for a while now, so you kind of know not to get too high or too low,” McGough said. “The best ones I’ve seen, the guys who have taught me the most, kind of stay consistent. You just try to keep level-headed, come back to work tomorrow. We’ve got another game and we want to split the series. That’s the goal. I’ll be here to help out the team.”

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Coming up

Tuesday: At San Diego, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (0-1, 9.64) vs. Padres RHP Yu Darvish (16-8, 3.10)*.

Wednesday: Off.

Thursday: At Chase Field, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (0-0, 0.00) vs. Dodgers RHP Dustin May (0-0, 0.00).

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner (0-1, 11.25) vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 1.50).

*-Stats from 2022.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks' new pen fails in familiar fashion in loss to Padres