Diamondbacks' offense struggles again in loss to Dodgers

Thinking along with Dodgers reliever Yency Almonte, Josh Rojas was sitting fastball during his seventh-inning at-bat on Thursday night. Rojas was right. He got a fastball. But the 97 mph pitch was so far in on his hands that even though he crushed it, Rojas couldn’t keep it fair. It went as a loud Strike 2.

“Obviously,” Rojas said, “that was my one chance.”

Rojas popped out one pitch later.

The sequence helped illustrate the challenge Diamondbacks hitters faced in their 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night — one they have faced multiple times already in this young season.

The quality of stuff opposing pitchers feature, including Dodgers right-hander Dustin May, who shut them down on Thursday for the second time already this season, makes hitting extremely difficult. In a sense, it explains why the Diamondbacks have scored two or fewer runs five times in their first seven games.

But it is also a viewpoint manager Torey Lovullo does not want his hitters to succumb to, even after facing arms as talented as May.

“Where we got to get to, where we’re going, we’ve got to find a way to win these types of games and beat these types of pitchers,” Lovullo said. “There’s a certain standard here that we want to make sure that we’re upholding. I believe in our hitters enough to go out there and execute against anybody and we’ve got to believe that deep in our heart every single day we’re going to go out and beat no matter who is throwing.”

Through seven games, the Diamondbacks are hitting .214. They have scored a total of 21 runs; strip out the eight runs they scored in San Diego on Tuesday and they have scored just 13 runs in their other six games. Looking at that way, it is incredible they have only lost four times.

May averaged 97.5 mph with his four-seam fastball on Thursday. He threw a sinker and a cutter — two pitches that move in opposite directions — at 96.7 mph and 93.8 mph, respectively. And other than a sequence or two throughout his six innings of one-run ball, he mostly threw strikes. Taken collectively, it is an overpowering package of stuff for a pitcher.

“He’s got a little bit of everything,” Rojas said. “It’s kind of a guessing game out there. You’ve got to get the right pitch and hit it. And even that’s tough. Sometimes you get the right pitch and you can’t square it up. He’s good.”

Of the Diamondbacks’ four losses, this one seemed to bother Lovullo the most. He gave May credit but couldn’t leave it at that. He thought there were pitches his hitters could have hit hard but didn’t. More than that, he thought there were opportunities to score in which the Diamondbacks came up empty.

Two stand out: In the sixth, after Rojas doubled home the Diamondbacks’ first run, he was left standing on second after Ketel Marte (strikeout), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (pop out) and Christian Walker (ground out) went down in order.

Two innings later, Marte doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch with nobody out. He did not score, either, after Gurriel (strikeout), Walker (strikeout) and Corbin Carroll (pop out) were retired.

Lovullo also couldn’t shake off a couple of plays he thought should have been made. One was on a potential double-play ball in the fourth, when pitcher Merrill Kelly was unable to catch a throw while covering first. The other was a relay throw from shortstop Geraldo Perdomo that went wide of home plate.

“Those (are) little things we’ve done well,” Lovullo said. “It’s easy to sit up here on a day when you lose 5-2 and be critical, but I want to call it like I see it. I believe in this team. This is a good team. We can do those things. When we do those things we win baseball games. It’s plain and simple. We’ve got to do it.”

Still, the lack of offense early on is hard to overlook. Some of it, of course, is the result of the Dodgers’ pitching, which they have faced in five of seven games. But none of the Diamondbacks’ top hitters are off to good starts. Marte and Gurriel are each 5 for 28 (.179). Walker is 6 for 25 (.240) with just one extra-base hit. Carroll is 6 for 27 (.222).

The day began with Lovullo admitting the Diamondbacks had yet to play a clean game from start to finish. It ended with them still waiting to put their best foot forward.

Madison Bumgarner ready for Friday start vs. Dodgers

Left-hander Madison Bumgarner threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and was declared ready to make his regular start on Friday vs. the Dodgers.

Bumgarner was hit hard in his first start of the year, giving up five runs in four innings. He said later he experienced fatigue in his pitching arm, and the club opted to send him for an MRI, which came back clean.

Bumgarner said he “just overdid it” in his throwing and between-starts routine over the past week or two, both by doing too much throwing and throwing with more intensity than he should have.

“I was feeling pretty good and I was trying to get everything as good as it could be,” he said. “And just overdid it. I knew I was doing it at the time, but it’s hard to stop when you’re trying to find something when you feel like you’re on the verge. It just all caught up to me on game day.”

He said he was “super confident” his MRI would turn out fine, saying he had dealt with a tired arm before.

“Anytime a pitcher says anything like that about their throwing arm it’s always going to get looked at a little extensively, I guess,” he said.

Bumgarner’s fastball velocity of 89.1 mph was down from last year’s average of 91.2 mph. The velocity on his cutter, curveball and change-up were down about the same amount, as well.

“It was pretty quick recovery,” he said. “I didn’t think it would take much and it didn’t. We did a little work, a couple of days of no throwing, and then ready to go.”

Corbin Carroll’s ride to the park: his parents

The Diamondbacks posted pictures of their star rookie, Corbin Carroll, getting dropped at Chase Field before Opening Day by none other than his parents.

Carroll, 22, has a close relationship with his family and has long credited his parents for his upbringing.

"That makes me laugh," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "He is just such a great kid. … I know that his parents have done a great job with him. The fact that he gets dropped off by them to the ballpark does not surprise me at all."

Lovullo then shifted gears, admitting that with the Suns playing at Footprint Center, he, too, got a ride to the ballpark.

"Parking is going to be tough tonight," Lovullo said. "I think everybody got dropped off today, OK? This is going to be a sellout. My family dropped me off. That was just a little more special with your parents are dropping you off. It’s like Little League, right?"

The Diamondbacks’ Twitter account posted two pictures, one each of Carroll hugging his mom, Pey-Lin, and his dad, Brant.

What to know about opening night

—Gates open at 4:30 p.m.

—There will be a flyover of four F-35s from the 63^rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base. The flyover will be led by Lt. Colonel Jeremy “Thumper” Hedges and will be his last flyover before he retires after 21 years of service.

—Ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Phoenix police officer Tyler Moldovan, who is recovering since being shot multiple times on Dec. 14, 2021 in his first year on the force. He had graduated from the academy less than a year earlier.

—The National Anthem will be performed on the trumpet by Dr. Jesse McGuire, who has a long history of playing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at sporting events including Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

—The Chase Field roof is expected to be open, as temperatures should be in the mid-70s at first pitch.

Alert: Diamondbacks, Suns both home Thursday night

The Diamondbacks' home opener at Chase Field will start within minutes of the Suns' home game next door against the Denver Nuggets. Parking and commuting toward downtown Phoenix are likely to be a hassle, although at least there are no major road closures near downtown to be concerned about.

Valley Metro Rail is one option, especially for Suns ticket holders. Through its Rail Ride Event program, Valley Metro will recognize Footprint Center event tickets as valid light rail fare on the day of the event for four hours prior to the start of the game, through the end of the transit day. This does not apply to Diamondbacks ticket holders, who will need to pay for their light rail ride.

Starting pitchers

Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (0-0, 0.00) vs. Dodgers RHP Dustin May (0-0, 0.00).

Kelly and May faced off in the second game of the season, when they handed the contest over to their respective bullpens at 0-0. The Diamondbacks went on to win, 2-1, thanks to a two-run eighth inning home run from pinch hitter Kyle Lewis. … Kelly worked around three hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. He was limited to 74 pitches because his spring training was truncated by the World Baseball Classic. … May was dominant, allowing just four baserunners in seven innings. He had previously struggled against the Diamondbacks in his career, allowing eight runs in 5 1/3 innings. … May is a flamethrower, with a fastball that can touch triple digits. ... The Diamondbacks went 40-41 at home last year.

Coming up

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).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies (0-0, 1.80) vs. Dodgers RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-0, 1.50).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (0-0, 5.40) vs. Dodgers RHP Michael Grove (0-0, 6.75).

About the Dodgers

After splitting a four-game set with the Diamondbacks to start the season, the Dodgers swept a two-game mini-series with the Rockies. They outscored Colorado, 18-6, in the two games. They’re currently leading MLB in runs (38) and home runs (13). Catcher Will Smith has been the leader so far, going 8-for-19 with two doubles and three homers. The Dodgers also been excellent on the pitching front, with a 2.17 ERA, the fourth best in the sport. Their statistical dominance played out at Dodger Stadium last weekend, where they outscored the Diamondbacks, 20-7, despite only winning two of those games. The split, though, was a positive for Arizona, which had gone 10-38 against Los Angeles over the prior three seasons. Because MLB has reduced the number of divisional games, these teams won’t meet again after this weekend until Aug. 8-9.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks' offense struggles again in loss to Dodgers