Dustin May Pops Diamondbacks Bubble

In front of a sellout home opener crowd in Chase Field, Dodger's starter Dustin May threw six innings allowing just one run on two hits, two walks and five strikeouts, getting the victory in a 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks. This followed seven shutout innings he threw against the D-backs last week in Los Angeles. An obviously unhappy Torey Lovullo came into the press room tonight and got right to the point:

"For the second time in a row their starting pitcher seemed to throw a pretty good game against our offense."

Josh Rojas, who had an RBI double in the 6th, and just missed a three run homer foul in the 7th was asked why it's so difficult to face May. He was also succinct and to the point. "He throws 100", Rojas said. "He's got pitches that can go both ways, he's got a sinker and a cutter. He's got a changeup. He's got a little bit of everything. It's kind of a guessing game out there."

May has long been heralded as a great young pitcher who has had health issues, including Tommy John surgery. But when healthy his stuff is among the most challenging in the game to hit. While it's no shame to be shut down by a pitcher of his caliber, Lovullo was not in the mood to make excuses.

"Where we want to get to and where we're going, we've got to find a way to win these types of games and beat these types of pitchers."

#Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo was not pleased with tonight’s result or execution

pic.twitter.com/WDVcmNxTf2
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) April 7, 2023

The offensive struggles were not limited to just the at bats against May however. After Rojas' double in the 6th he was left stranded at second when the next three batters were retired in order. Then in the 7th inning, with May out of the game and operating against the Dodgers bullpen they had a runner on second with one out and one run already in thanks to a Jake McCarthy triple. Once again they failed to bring that runner home. In the 8th inning a leadoff double by Ketel Marte went for naught, when Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Christian Walker struck out and Corbin Carroll popped out to the catcher.

In all the D-backs offense went 0-8 with runners in scoring position, all of those coming in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings. While they scratched out two runs, they missed many opportunities to come back with some questionable approaches to their at bats.

It was not a good night on the mound for Merrill Kelly either. He has faced the Dodgers 14 times now and has an 0-10 record. He started off well retiring the side in order on just 10 pitches in the first. But thereafter he struggled with his control. Over the next 4 2/3 innings he needed 89 pitches to record 14 outs, giving up four runs on six hits, and four walks.

The fifth Dodger run came on a Freddie Freeman homer in the 7th off of left handed reliever Kyle Nelson. Freeman also doubled and scored in the third inning when Geraldo Perdomo failed to make an accurate throw back to first base on a 3-6-1 double play attempt. Christian Walker fielded the ball cleanly and made a good throw down to second to get the lead runner, but Kelly overran the bag a little bit and Perdomo's throw was behind him.

In the 6th inning Lovullo left Kelly in to face two left handed batters, David Peralta and James Outman with runners on first and second. Kelly got Peralta to hit into a force out but Outman singled, scoring Will Smith who had led off with a double. Lovullo finally pulled Kelly at 99 pitches, bringing in the lefty Nelson to face the right handed Chris Taylor, who flew out. Asked about this sequence, Lovullo said that he saw Trayce Thompson in the dugout with a helmet on and if he had brought in Nelson to face either lefty, Dave Roberts would have countered with Thompson as a pinch hitter. Thompson had a three-homer game against the D-backs last week.

After the game Kelly conceded that part of his struggles with control and command could be due to lack of time to prepare for the season due to participating in the World Baseball Classic.

The Diamondbacks record now stands at 3-4, while the Dodgers improve to 5-2. On Friday Night Madison Bumgarner will face Clayton Kershaw, game time is 6:40PM MST.

Check out sound cloud below for full comments from Rojas, Lovullo, and Kelly.