Diamondbacks’ postseason path narrows after loss to Giants

PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks were beaten 11-0 by the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, losing a home series against a .500-point club but still clinging to a wild-card spot entering the final week of the regular season.

The two consecutive losses to San Francisco further cloud Arizona’s path to the postseason, as the team is now half a game behind the New York Mets for the second Wild Card spot and half a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves for third place (tied in the loss column).

The D-backs (87-71) still have their fate in their own hands with four games remaining, but are under pressure to quickly draw a line under three consecutive losses, including the squandered 8-0 lead on Sunday in Milwaukee.

“I usually try to filter things properly and come up with something that sounds a little bit positive, but I don’t think there was much positivity in this game,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I don’t want to sit here and harp on things because you saw what I saw.”

“We need to play better baseball. We need to play more focused baseball. It all comes down to pitching, which gives the game a fresh look, creates the flow of the game and keeps everyone engaged when you attack the zone.”

Lovullo’s response to the question if he had read the riot act to his club: “I probably just did.”

D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt followed a brilliant performance in Milwaukee with a disappointment, going 2.2 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on two devastating home runs by Patrick Bailey and Michael Conforto. Mike Yastrzemski nearly hit a three-run shot of his own, but Corbin Carroll robbed him of the win at the fence.

That’s two of Pfaadt’s last three starts in which he failed to get past the third inning, and three consecutive Diamondbacks starts that ended before the end of the fifth frame.

“I think at the beginning of this year we talked about consistency. That hasn’t been the case lately,” Pfaadt said. “We’re just going to get through these two games and keep going, and when we have to throw the last game, we’ll be ready.”

Blake Walston also didn’t fare well, allowing three more home runs as a relief pitcher. The Giants brought in All-Star Logan Webb, who has caused problems for the D-backs before, and he threw six scoreless innings. Webb pitched 13 shutout innings against Arizona this season.

The Diamondbacks have struggled to find consistently good pitchers all season, from an injury-plagued first four months to a disappointing performance since the rotation was completed in August. The overall team ERA is 4.66, which ranks 27th in MLB, ahead of the bottom-place Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies. Looking only at September, the team ERA before Tuesday’s game was dead last at 5.61 — 4.91 for starters and 6.58 for relievers.

According to FanGraphs projections, the D-backs had a 73.1% chance of making the postseason on Tuesday. The Braves beat the Mets 5-1 on Tuesday, dropping Arizona’s probability to 67.8%. By the end of the night, those chances dropped to 53%. Take the numbers as they are, but they clearly show that the path is narrowing.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to these guys playing together 26-man and saying, ‘Here we go,'” Lovullo said. “I said it last year, you have to stick together. When you stick together, you’re dangerous. These guys are together, but we haven’t had great results. I think there’s been a little frustration building up in this clubhouse over the last few days.”

The Diamondbacks, as Carroll pointed out, have experienced extreme ups and downs this season, showing a resilience that got them through an injury-plagued first half in which they failed to reach .500 points and helped them build the league’s top-scoring offense.

“I think everything that this team has been through this year — there’s been a lot of downturns, there’s been a lot of great runs with great stretches — I think it adds up to a team that can keep a cool head no matter the situation,” Carroll said. “I just have confidence in us as a team that we can go out there and just do our best.”

Arizona’s odds were as high as 96.8% after the D-backs swept Boston a month ago for their sixth straight win. Since then, however, the Diamondbacks have posted a mediocre 12-15 record while other wild-card teams have caught up, most notably the Mets, who have since gone 19-7.

The race for the NL Wild Card is very different from last year in terms of total wins. The 2024 D-backs have three more wins than the 2023 D-backs with four games remaining. But this time, the race could come down to 90 wins, which is tough enough without allowing six runs per game.

The Mets and Braves have two games left this week, which helps in some ways. Both NL East clubs have the tiebreaker against Arizona. The San Diego Padres, who finish the season at Chase Field, clinched a postseason spot on Tuesday and are two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The D-backs could face a Padres team on Friday that is giving it everything it has for the division — San Diego beat Los Angeles on Tuesday with a game-winning triple play.

“There are no two ways of looking at this. We want to play in the postseason, and to do that we have to give it our all in the next four games,” Carroll said. “We have to give it our all. That’s what we plan to do.”

As hard as it can be to find positives in a crushing loss, the D-backs are very well positioned for Wednesday. Zac Gallen starts and will have to be the stopper. Arizona’s bullpen with a positive role has had a few days off. The Giants, who have won seven of eight games, are relying on right-hander Mason Black, who has an ERA of 5.88 this season.

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