Reliever Yoan Lopez strode off the mound, the chain around his neck bobbing up and down. He had retired each of the five hitters he faced, helping the Diamondbacks to a win they needed, and he had put behind him an ugly performance from one night earlier.

As it happened, it took a great many contributors to fend off the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 10-7 on Friday night. Lopez recorded crucial outs in a stressful moment. Three other relievers also had scoreless appearances. 

Christian Walker and Eduardo Escobar blasted homers, Walker’s coming in a critical six-run third inning. The Diamondbacks collected 10 hits and drew eight walks, a nice showing for a team that struggled to hit the night before, something that has been a common occurrence at Chase Field this season.

But it was a night that ended with each team’s manager getting asked questions about whether his starting pitcher was going to remain in the rotation. 

For the Diamondbacks, the questions were about rookie right-hander Taylor Clarke. After a two-week stint on the injured list due to back tightness, Clarke was roughed up by the Brewers, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. He did not record a strikeout while allowing a flurry of hard contact.

BOX SCORE: Arizona 10, Milwaukee 7

“I don’t think it was his best effort, nor did I expect it to be his best effort just coming back off the DL,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We want him to get the baseball and throw obviously a little bit better. But we’ll talk about that tomorrow and come up with a game plan.”

The Diamondbacks, a club fighting with a half-dozen other teams for one of two wild-card spots, might not be able to afford to stick with Clarke in the rotation much longer if his struggles continue, a fact Lovullo seemed to acknowledge.

“Could be,” he said when asked if Clarke’s leash is getting short. “It could be, yeah. I don’t necessarily make the personnel decisions here. I just give input when (General Manager) Mike (Hazen) and his group ask. Of course, we’ve got to win baseball games. That’s the bottom line. I want to get the right guys in the right situations, put them on the mound and let them run. Yeah. It might be.”

Over his past eight starts in the majors, Clarke owns an 8.20 ERA. He has not registered a quality start in any of those outings and has lasted five innings only twice. 

On the bright side for the Diamondbacks, the other team’s starter was even worse. The Diamondbacks scored seven runs (six earned) off Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, with most of the damage coming in a six-run third that began with a single (Jarrod Dyson), double (Ketel Marte), triple (Escobar) and homer (Walker). They added two more runs, getting some help in the form of an error and a wild pitch.

The Diamondbacks scored three more runs over the next two innings, going ahead 10-4, and the lead turned out to be plenty for the bullpen, which had to cover 5 1/3 innings. Lopez entered in the seventh after right-hander Matt Andriese gave up three runs – Andriese appeared to be in discomfort after the second batter he faced, Lorenzo Cain, struck him in the foot with a comebacker – but escaped the inning without further damage.

On Thursday night, Lopez took the loss after allowing three runs in one-third of an inning.

“I went out there looking to polish the mistakes that I made last night, to get better, and I really felt great out there,” Lopez said, speaking through interpreter Martin Bater. “It was great to be able to perform the way I did tonight.”