Joey Votto home run in 1st inning sets tone for another miserable night for Diamondbacks

CINCINNATI — With two runners on in the first inning on Tuesday night, Diamondbacks left-hander Tyler Gilbert kept throwing cutters to the Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto, each one on the outer half of the plate. Those in the strike zone, Votto fouled off. Those out of the zone, he took. But when Gilbert left one a little too high, Votto shot it to the opposite field, barely clearing the wall in left.

“I think he threw three or four of the same pitches to Votto,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “You do that to a really good hitter, you’re going to pay for it.”

Votto’s three-run homer was the start of a miserable night for Gilbert and the Diamondbacks, who were clobbered, 14-8, by the Reds at Great American Ball Park, their fourth loss in as many days.

The night was not without its positives, most of them coming courtesy of the offense, which showed signs of life for the first time in days.

Rookie Geraldo Perdomo connected for his first career home run, an eighth-inning grand slam that snapped the Diamondbacks' 26-inning scoreless streak. Ketel Marte blasted a solo homer later in the inning, one of 10 hits the offense collected one day after getting one-hit over seven innings by Reds right-hander Hunter Greene.

But the biggest development of the evening related to the starting rotation. After Gilbert's rough night, it seems almost certain the Diamondbacks will be looking elsewhere in their search for a fifth starter, a job that opened last week when right-hander Humberto Castellanos went down with an elbow injury.

A year ago, Gilbert turned in one of the more improbable pitching performances in recent memory. Selected by the Diamondbacks in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, Gilbert got the ball one night last August and weaved his way around a barrage of hard contact by the San Diego Padres to turn in the third no-hitter in franchise history.

Prior to Tuesday night, Gilbert had made three appearances with the Diamondbacks this season, pitching competitively each time while spending the rest of his time in Triple-A Reno. Though those big-league outings were surrounded by mostly unsightly pitching lines in Reno, they were enough to convince the Diamondbacks to give him the first crack at Castellanos’ job.

Things did not go the way the Diamondbacks had hoped. Gilbert was torched for seven runs (six earned) in 1 2/3 innings. He walked two, hit a batter and served up a pair of home runs. The Diamondbacks were down 7-0 by the time his night was over.

Lovullo was asked what the Diamondbacks plan to do in Philadelphia on Sunday, when the fifth spot in the rotation comes up next.

“We’re figuring that out,” Lovullo said. “We’re having conversations about it. They’ll continue through the rest of the night and probably on into tomorrow. We’ll figure it out. We’re going to find a way to get that fifth spot shored up.”

They appear to have a handful of options. It likely is no coincidence that rehabbing right-hander Luke Weaver was lined up to pitch in Reno on the same day as Gilbert. In four innings against Sacramento, Weaver allowed just one run on three hits, walking none and striking out three.

Another possibility could be right-hander Corbin Martin, who has a 4.44 ERA in Reno and has pitched particularly well — allowing two earned runs in 11 2/3 innings, with four walks and 14 strikeouts — in his past two starts.

Then there is newly signed left-hander Dallas Keuchel, whom the Diamondbacks had said would be reporting to their spring training facility but instead will join the team in Cincinnati on Wednesday as a member of the taxi squad.

“We’re going to have him as potential coverage if there’s a COVID situation,” Lovullo said. “Just to have him here just in case.”

Perdomo’s homer keyed a five-run outburst in the eighth inning that immediately followed a one-hour rain delay. The Reds, who received six shutout innings from starter Graham Ashcraft, saw their lead cut to 9-5, and it looked for a moment like the Diamondbacks might be able to get back in the game. But Diamondbacks reliever Noe Ramirez was torched for five runs in the bottom of the inning, again putting the game out of reach.

The Diamondbacks scored three more in the ninth, giving them what they hope will be momentum heading into Wednesday.

“I think our guys just relaxed a little bit and just went out there and executed a good game plan and put up eight runs in two innings,” Lovullo said. “Hopefully, it’ll be a catalyst for good results tomorrow.”

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Votto home run in 1st inning sets tone for Reds' win over Diamondbacks