Phoenix, AZ—-The Arizona Diamondbacks are in a tailspin — and Friday night’s 9–7 loss to the Washington Nationals was another glaring example of why.
A first-inning miscue by Ketel Marte set the tone early. What should have been a routine double play turned into a dropped throw at second base, and instead of escaping the inning unscathed, starter Merrill Kelly found himself trailing after two unearned runs. It was a mistake emblematic of a season that’s been riddled with them: avoidable, frustrating, and ultimately costly.
“It’s not one person’s fault,” manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “But I think that (error) took a little wind out of his (Kelly’s) sail.”
The Diamondbacks would answer quickly with four runs in the bottom half, but as has been the pattern lately, they couldn’t hold the lead. By night’s end, Lovullo tallied 10 extra baserunners the team had gifted Washington — through errors, walks, or misplayed hits. The loss was Arizona’s eighth in nine games, dropping them to 27–30.
“We should not be three games under .500,” Lovullo said. “We’ve got to tighten things down. It’s really frustrating.”
More of the Same: Offense Shines, Defense and Bullpen Struggle:
Arizona’s offense kept them in the game — briefly. A back-and-forth contest saw the Diamondbacks tied 6–6 entering the sixth, but reliever Juan Morillo unraveled, walking the bases loaded before allowing a broken-bat two-run single to Nathaniel Lowe.
The bullpen wasn’t the only issue. A handful of defensive miscues proved costly again. In the seventh, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. misplayed a ball to the warning track that went for a double and led to another Nationals run. In the eighth, a miscommunication between first baseman Josh Naylor and reliever Ryan Thompson resulted in a collision on what should have been a routine out.
Even Gabriel Moreno’s near home run was taken away — robbed by Nationals right fielder Daylen Lile, whose leaping catch at the wall kept two more runs off the board.
“We’re in a lot of these games,” Kelly said. “It’s not like we’re getting blown out. But we can’t keep giving teams free chances.”
Kelly exited after five innings and 95 pitches, partly due to Marte’s error that forced him to throw 17 extra pitches in the first inning. He expressed concern that mounting pressure is causing the team to tense up rather than regroup.
“I feel like if we start panicking — and we already aren’t playing like ourselves — the more we press, the worse it gets,” Kelly said. “We have to come in every day ready to win that day.”
Lovullo at a Loss for Solutions:
After the game, Lovullo admitted he’s running out of answers. He spoke of long talks with bench coach Jeff Banister and even mentioned advice from an unlikely source — his mother — who told him to “throw the analytics out the window” and shake up the lineup.
“We’re trying everything we possibly can,” Lovullo said. “It’s going to hit at some point. The coaches are going to figure out how to coach them right. The players are going to figure out how to play right for nine innings.”
For now, the results remain the same: defensive breakdowns, inconsistent relief pitching, and a team that looks less like the scrappy playoff contender of last season and more like a club searching for direction.
What’s Next:
The Diamondbacks and Nationals continue their series Saturday, May 31, at Chase Field. Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (7–3, 3.90 ERA) will take the mound for Arizona, facing Nationals righty Michael Soroka (1–3, 5.61 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
