The Arizona Diamondbacks have seen more than their fair share of struggles lately. On Wednesday, the D-backs were swept by the Brewers at Miller Park for the second time in team history. They have now been swept in back-to-back series, lost seven straight, 13 of their last 14. It’s one of the worst stretches Arizona has had in franchise history.
May 21: Diamondbacks lose 4-2
May 22: Diamondbacks lose 1-0
May 23: Diamondbacks lose 9-2
Bats can’t get going
The Diamondbacks were shut out for the first time in this rough stretch by the Brewers in Tuesday’s loss.
On Wednesday, it looked like the Diamondbacks’ were going to bounce back early, with back-to-back homers from Paul Goldschmidt and John Ryan Murphy, but the Brewers were able to put up seven runs in the fourth inning to open up a large lead that the Diamondbacks couldn’t come back from.
Hard to believe the #Diamondbacks are about to lose 13 of their last 14 games. They have scored the fewest runs in baseball in May. #MLBWhiparound
— Kevin Burkhardt (@kevinburkhardt) May 23, 2018
In the six games the Diamondbacks have played against the Brewers this season, Arizona has only had 22 hits. That is the fewest hits in a six game series in the Majors ever. In this series, the Diamondbacks had a franchise record low of 10 hits in a three-game series.
The Diamondbacks have only scored 26 runs since the struggles started on May 9. Opponents have put up 61 runs on the D-backs in that stretch.
Pitching
Zack Godley pitched one of the shortest outings of his career on Wednesday. Godley went only 3 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs, six earned, on seven hits. He had six walks and three strikeouts.
Matt Koch had a good outing on Tuesday, but with the bats quiet and base-running struggles, he couldn’t get the win. Koch went 5 1/3 innings allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts.
On Monday, Zack Greinke went six innings allowing four runs on five hits including three home runs and tallied nine strikeouts.
Trouble on the bases
In Tuesday’s loss, the Diamondbacks had four outs on the bases, all of which runners were caught trying to get from first to second.
#Dbacks 1B coach Dave McKay on the team's base running pic.twitter.com/xz5CPrXS7h
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) May 23, 2018
Souza Jr. back to DL
The Diamondbacks were hoping to avoid putting Steven Souza Jr. back on the DL after he re-aggravated his right pectoral injury last week, but on Tuesday, they opted to put Souza Jr. back on the 10-day DL and recall Sócrates Brito from Triple-A Reno.
Souza is the second outfielder to go down in the last week after AJ Pollock sustained an avulsion fracture in his left thumb on May 14. Chris Owings and Jarrod Dyson have been splitting time in center in Pollock’s absence.
Next up
The Diamondbacks will have an off-day on Thursday before they head to Oakland for a weekend series against the Athletics. The weekend’s probable starters are Patrick Corbin on Friday, Clay Buchholz on Saturday and Zack Greinke on Sunday.
Fox Sports Arizona’s Jody Jackson reported on Wednesday that the team will be wearing black for their travel day from Milwaukee to Oakland. The theme will signify the “funeral” for the struggles the Diamondbacks have been having. They’ll be desperately looking to turn things around on this trip to Oakland, the D-backs first trip back to the Coliseum since 2011.
For more on the Diamondbacks, check out Sports360AZ.com’s ‘Diamonds in the Desert’ Podcast.
