Poor Decisions, Sloppy Play Cost D-backs in 5-2 Loss to Cubs

The Diamondbacks failed to sweep the Cubs at Wrigley Field today, dropping the four game series finale 5-2. Questionable managerial decisions by Torey Lovullo to start the game were followed by sloppy and uninspired play from the team right out of the gate, putting the D-backs in a hole they could not climb out of.

Lovullo made a late switch, deciding to go with Joe Mantiply as the opener with the plan to turn to Brandon Pfaadt later as the "bulk" pitcher. That immediately backfired as Cubs manager David Ross changed his lineup to stack right handed hitters at the top of the order to face the lefty Mantiply. The reliever gave up a run on a couple of hits in the first inning. Lovullo went to Scott McGough with one out in the second and he got those two outs to without any damage in the second inning. By the time Pfaadt came into the game in the 3rd inning the Cubs were back up to the top of the order.

Pfaadt proceeded to surrender solo homers to three of the first five batters faced. First Christopher Morel drilled a center-cut fastball over the wall in left. Then Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson went back to back giving the Cubs a 4-0 lead. Bellinger's homer was also in the middle of the plate, a curveball that just rolled to the plate. Swanson got a 95 MPH fastball belt high out over the plate. It seemed like an odd decision to throw Pfaadt, who often struggles with command in the zone, out of his normal pregame routine.

During his post game press conference Lovullo seemed to have a tough time articulating what went on in the decision making process. Clearly the change the Cubs made to the lineup threw things off however.

We wanted to give [Pfaadt] a clean inning to start, that's first of all, once we determined we were going to go with an opener. It was my decision. We just felt like they would chop up their lineup a little bit differently and we'd be able to manage it exactly how we wanted.

Usually when teams go with an opener the ideal situation is to have the starter get to face the bottom half of the order upon entering the game. But in this case Pfaadt ended up having to face the top of the order. After seeing how Pfaadt did settle down to pitch well over his final five innings, Lovullo admitted that he is second guessing himself. "I can't help but think about it. It's my responsibility, I can't just close my eyes"

Pfaadt indeed settled down to throw five more innings, giving up just one more run to end up with a final line of 6IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 1BB, 4K, 3HR. The home run problem is back with a vengeance however as he's now allowed 20 in 80.2 innings pitched.

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks shut down the D-backs for the first four innings. The D-backs hitters were unable to lay off the changeup and were very aggressive early, as Hendricks struck out four of the first six batters. The D-backs scored a run in the 5th with new addition Seby Zavala singling home Lourdes Gurriel Jr, who had doubled to lead off the inning. They ran themselves out of a bigger inning however when Emmanuel Rivera, who had singled in between Gurriel and Zavala, got doubled off second base on a shallow pop up to left. They got one more in the 6th, but that was all the offense they could muster.

Lovullo said the team made a lot of mistakes today. That list of mistakes is indeed quite long.

Corbin Carroll misplayed a leadoff single from Morel into a triple in the first inning. A base running mistake by Morel got an unexpected out, but Nico Hoerner reached first on the fielders choice.

Zavala juggled the ball trying to throw out Hoerner who stole second and then scored on a double down the line by Seya Suzuki

Zavala made a throwing error on a stolen base in the 4th inning allowing Nick Madrigal to get to the 3rd, but the runner was stranded.

The aforementioned base running out by Rivera cost a chance at a crooked number in the 5th.

Hoerner got a huge jump on Pfaadt after a leadoff single to start the fifth inning. He later scored on a base hit from Dansby Swanson.

Down 5-2 in the 7th Geraldo Perdomo drew a one out walk. With Corbin Carroll at the plate, Perdomo inexplicably took off for second base and was thrown out by a mile.

The D-back are on their way to New York to play a four game series against the Mets in Citi Field. Miami and Cincinnati also won today. The D-backs hold a 0.5 game lead over Miami and are 1.5 games up on the Reds for the 3rd NL Wild Card spot. They fall 2.0 games back of the Cubs for the 2nd spot and are 4.5 games back of the Phillies for the first overall wild card position.