Diamondbacks Shutout by Mariners 4-0

The Diamondbacks offensive woes continued today as they were shutout by the Seattle Mariners 4-0. The series loss was their second in a row at home, having lost two of three to the Cardinals earlier in the week. The offense mustered just three hits, all singles, as their streak of 79 consecutive games with an extra base came to an end.

Merrill Kelly struggled out of the gate, facing eight batters and giving up two runs in a 41 pitch first inning. He loaded the bases with two outs and then walked in a batter and allowed an RBI base hit. J.P. Crawford tagged him for a solo homer in the second inning, as the Mariners jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

That was more than enough for Mariners starter Luis Castillo who completely dominated the D-backs lineup. He went six innings, giving up just two singles, walking one, and striking out seven. Only one runner reach second base against him, Emmanuel Rivera in the 3rd when he walked and advanced to second on a base hit by Ketel Marte. Corbin Carroll struck out to end the inning and the only threat the D-backs put together all day.

Christian Walker was hit by a pitch in the second inning and reached on an error in the fourth. Both times he was doubled off first on line drive outs by Dominic Canzone. It was that kind of day.

Kelly managed to get through five innings without giving up any more runs, posting a final line of 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. His record goes to 9-5 with a 3.23 ERA. Castillo evened his record to 7-7 and his ERA dropped to 2.88. The bullpen was not bad today, keeping the game close. Tyler Gilbert threw two scoreless innings, striking out five batters. Austin Adams also tossed a scoreless frame. Cole Sulser fresh off the injured list gave up a leadoff double to Crawford in the ninth and the Mariners shortstop and OPS leader came around to score on a base hit. But that run had no impact on the game. The D-backs went down quickly and quietly in the bottom half of the inning.

The Diamondbacks fall to 7-16 for the month of July and 56-50 for the season. The Dodgers lost today so Arizona remains 4.0 games back in the division, and are 1.0 games back in the wild card chase. There is still plenty of time and plenty of games to get things turned around, but it's going to be really hard. As Michael McDermott pointed out back on July 12th, the August schedule is where they will really be tested

"Of the 27 games on the schedule, 16 are on the road and 18 are within the division. They will also play all four of their division rivals on the road, none of which should be expected series wins going in."

The D-backs head out on the road for a four game series in San Francisco starting tomorrow night and then on to Minnesota to play the twins who are currently in first place in the AL Central with a 53-52 record. Ryne Nelson gets the ball on Monday night, first pitch is 6:45 PST