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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo speaks to the media following his team’s loss to the Dodgers.
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Diamondbacks starter Anthony Banda speaks to the media following his outing against the Dodgers.
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Dan Bickley and Scott Bordow discuss Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke’s performance in the game against the Dodgers Wednesday night.
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Zack Greinke discusses the mistakes he made in the seventh inning of the Diamondbacks’ loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday. Andrew Vailliencourt/azcentral sports
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Manager Torey Lovullo discusses the Diamondbacks’ “tough” loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday at Chase Field. Andrew Vailliencourt/azcentral sports
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Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley talks about the emotions involved in defending home field against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Chase Field. Richard Morin/azcentral sports
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Doug Haller and Mark Faller discuss Barry Bonds and the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb discusses his grand slam in the seventh inning to lead his team to a win over the Dodgers on Tuesday. Richard Morin/azcentral sports
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s win over the Dodgers on Tuesday at Chase Field. Richard Morin/azcentral sports
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about the Diamondbacks’ 6-3 loss to the Giants on Sunday, which ended their 10-game road trip with a 5-5 record.
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Anthony Banda talks about how it feels to win his first game in the big leagues.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was impressed with Anthony Banda’s ability to make adjustments during his outing against the Giants on Friday night.
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Arizona Senator John McCain joins the Shot Clock to talk Arizona sports.
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Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt talks about his three-homer game on Thursday afternoon against the Cubs.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s 10-8 win over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
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Third baseman Jake Lamb talks about the Diamondbacks’ ability to bounce back from an ugly loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about Zack Godley’s strong six innings and Jake Lamb’s two run-scoring doubles in a win over the Cubs.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s defensive miscues and infielder Daniel Descalso’s relief appearance.
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Diamondbacks lefty Patrick Corbin says he made too many mistakes against the Cubs on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
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azcentral sports’ Jay Dieffenbach and J.J. Hensley discuss the changes with the Diamondbacks.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s 3-2 loss on Sunday and Chris Owings’ fractured finger.
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Diamondbacks right-hander Taijuan Walker talks about the mistakes he made in a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday.
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Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray talks about what he remembers from Friday night, when he was struck on the head by a line drive in the second inning.
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Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke talks about his performance in a 7-1 win over the Cardinals on Saturday night.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s all-around performance, including Zack Greinke’s seven strong innings, in a win over the Cardinals.
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Lovullo on Robbie Ray’s condition after getting hit in the head by a line drive.
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Diamondbacks infielder Daniel Descalso talks about the line drive that struck Robbie Ray, and how he was able to catch it after the ball ricocheted in the air.
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azcentral sports’ Sarah McLellan and Jay Dieffenbach discuss the Diamondbacks in our Shot Clock video.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo discusses J.D. Martinez’s grand slam and Zack Godley’s seven shutout innings in a win over the Cardinals.
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Newly acquired Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez on his play in Wednesday’s win.
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The Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte talks about his inside-the-park home run in Wednesday’s win.
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Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s win against the Braves.
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Manager Torey Lovullo and right-hander Taijuan Walker react to the loss.
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Martinez: “It’s kind of hard not to [press],” he said. “You just kind of want to get here and show people what you want to do.”
Ricky Morin/azcsports
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Lovullo: “He was in command from start to finish.”
Ricky Morin/azcsports
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Greinke: “My command was as good as it’s been in awhile.”
Ricky Morin/azcsports
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Manager Torey Lovullo and left-hander Robbie Ray discuss the team’s 6-2 loss to Nationals on Sunday at Chase Field.
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Anthony Banda talks about his MLB debut in the Diamondbacks’ loss to the Nationals.
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Torey Lovullo on the Diamondbacks’ loss to Washington.
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Manager Torey Lovullo, second baseman Brandon Drury and center fielder A.J. Pollock react to the 6-5 win.
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Right fielder J.D. Martinez was introduced at Chase Field on Friday.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about a 12-2 win over the Reds on Thursday in which Patrick Corbin went 7 1/3 innings.
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Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin talks about pitching against the Reds on short notice on Thursday in Cincinnati.
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Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez talks about how his left hand feels after he was hit by a pitch on Wednesday night against the Reds.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s 4-3 loss to the Reds on Wednesday night and the hit-by-pitch on new slugger J.D. Martinez.
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Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke says his location on Wednesday night wasn’t as good as it has been in previous starts.
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azcentral sports’ Greg Moore and Jay Dieffenbach talk about the Diamondbacks trade for J.D. Martinez and what it means.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about his team’s offensive breakout on Tuesday and about the potential impact of newly acquired slugger J.D. Martinez.
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azcentral sports’ Greg Moore and Mark Faller discuss Robbie Ray pitching for Diamondbacks and Josh Jackson’s transition to the Suns.
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azcentral sports’ Jay Dieffenbach and Doug Haller weigh in on the Diamondbacks and ASU football in our Shot Clock video.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about Zack Godley’s performance on Sunday in a 7-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
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Torey Lovullo on his team’s loss to the Dodgers
Anthony Banda on his rough outing against the Dodgers
Shot Clock: Concerned about D-Backs’ Greinke?
Zack Greinke laments his final inning in loss to Dodgers
Torey Lovullo after D-Backs’ loss to Dodgers
Archie Bradley after win: ‘This is our home field’
Shot Clock: Opinion changing on Bonds in Hall?
Jake Lamb on his grand slam to beat Dodgers
Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ ‘pretty special’ win over Dodgers
Torey Lovullo on disappointing finish to D-Backs’ trip
Anthony Banda on his first big-league victory
Torey Lovullo talks about Anthony Banda’s win vs. Giants
McCain’s stadium advice, best AZ sports moment
Paul Goldschmidt after three-homer game vs. Cubs
Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ wild win over Cubs
Jake Lamb on D-Backs’ bounce-back win over Cubs
Torey Lovullo on Godley’s performance, Lamb’s clutch hits
Torey Lovullo on miscues, Descalso’s pitching in 16-4 loss to Cubs
Patrick Corbin on rough outing vs. Cubs
Shot Clock: Who’s at shortstop for D-Backs?
Torey Lovullo on loss to Cardinals, injury to Owings
Taijuan Walker on his mistakes vs. Cardinals
Robbie Ray talks about the line drive that hit him
D-Backs’ Zack Greinke on outing vs. Cardinals
Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ 7-1 win over Cardinals
D-Backs manager Tony Lovullo on Robbie Ray’s condition
Daniel Descalso on liner that hit Robbie Ray
Shot Clock: Focus key for J.D. Martinez
Torey Lovullo on Martinez’s grand slam, Godley’s outing
J.D. Martinez on strong performance in win
Ketel Marte on his inside-the-park home run
Lovullo talks about the D-Backs’ 10-3 win over Atlanta
Diamondbacks fall 8-3 to Braves
J.D. Martinez on playing in the NL, seeing new pitching
Lovullo raves about Greinke’s outing vs. Braves
Zack Greinke discusses outing vs. Braves
Torey Lovullo and Robbie Ray discuss Diamondbacks’ loss to Nationals
Anthony Banda talks about his MLB debut
Lovullo reacts to the D-Backs’ loss to the Nationals
Diamondbacks edge Nationals in walk-off win
Diamondbacks introduce J.D. Martinez at Chase Field
Torey Lovullo on Corbin’s outing, series victory vs. Reds
Patrick Corbin on his strong start vs. Reds
J.D. Martinez talks about getting hit by a pitch vs. Reds
Manager Torey Lovullo on loss to Reds, Martinez’s injury
Zack Greinke on his outing vs. Reds
Shot Clock: D-Backs seize moment with trade
Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ win over Reds, acquisition of J.D. Martinez
Shot Clock: Robbie Ray brings intensity to mound
Shot Clock: D-Backs fear Cubs; ASU’s hot seat
Torey Lovullo after D-Backs’ fifth straight loss
One of the game’s bigger at-bats on Thursday night came in the fourth inning, when the Diamondbacks sent up Brandon Drury as a pinch-hitter. The at-bat lasted all of three pitches. Drury swung through two sliders and a fastball, all of which were out of the strike zone, and a potential threat against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yu Darvish was suddenly over.
It was just one out, but it was representative of the sort of results the Diamondbacks have been getting from their bench in recent weeks. Whether it’s due to injuries or poor performance, an area that had been relatively productive for them has been gone dry, and it’s been a quiet contributor to the club’s run-scoring woes.
Drury’s strikeout was one of three outs made by Diamondbacks pinch-hitters on Thursday night. Their pinch-hitters have gone just 8 for 52 (.154) in their past 39 games, a stretch in which the Diamondbacks are 17-22 and are tied for 20th in the majors in runs scored.
Prior to that stretch, the Diamondbacks owned the third-best record in baseball and one of the majors’ most productive lineups to go along with it. They also had a productive bench. Their pinch-hitters started the year going 22 for 88 (.250); major league pinch-hitters are hitting .228 as a whole.
Some of the drop off could be explained by mere regression. But the personnel also has changed. Injuries to Chris Owings, Nick Ahmed and Yasmany Tomas has changed the composition of the roster, and Drury’s struggles have cost him his everyday job and thrust Daniel Descalso, one of their better bench players, into more consistent playing time.
Descalso, in fact, was the only Diamondbacks pinch-hitter to deliver a hit in seven at-bats in the Dodgers series. He’s 5 for 20 (.250) as a pinch-hitter this season.
“There’s an art to coming off the bench and filling a role and getting ready to have a productive at-bat,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We haven’t had a lot of success in that area. Pinch-hitting is a very hard thing to do. It’s hard to kind of ramp up your intensity, go in with a game plan. It’s probably one of the hardest things to do in baseball, for me. Without being a perfect science, it’s going to ebb and flow. We haven’t had a ton of luck with those guys coming off the bench.”
Another factor working against them is their decision to carry three catchers. Rather than using the final bench spot on a bat-first player, they’ve carried Chris Herrmann all season. Herrmann is hitting just .156 (27 for 173), and is just 2 for 27 (.074) with four walks as a pinch-hitter. As he has throughout the season, Lovullo continues to show confidence in Herrmann, both in words and actions.
“I like our matchups with Herm coming off the bench as a left-handed pinch-hitter,” Lovullo said. “Despite his batting average, I still feel like he’s having very productive at-bats.”
When catcher Jeff Mathis doesn’t start, he essentially hasn’t been an option for Lovullo; Mathis has just two plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, going 0 for 1 with a walk.
Getting Drury on track might help solve the issue. He’s hitting just .194 since June 23, but when he’s swinging the bat well, it not only gives the Diamondbacks a better option off the bench, it also gives them the opportunity to start him while freeing up Descalso for late-game at-bats as a pinch-hitter.
RELATED: Brandon Drury finds himself on Diamondbacks’ bench
MORE: Lovullo says D-Backs are ‘just fine’ after loss to Dodgers
Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.
Saturday’s game
Cubs at Diamondbacks
When: 5:10 p.m.
Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).
Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (8-11, 4.76) vs. Cubs LHP Jon Lester (8-6, 3.97).
TV/Radio: FSAZ, FSAZ+/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).
Corbin gave up six runs (three earned) in six innings against the Giants on Sunday in San Francisco. He gave up a two-run home run to LF Jarrett Parker in the second inning, and his defense did not help his cause in the Giants’ other two-run innings. … It was Corbin’s second consecutive shaky outing; prior to that, he faced the Cubs and allowed eight runs (seven earned) in three innings. Corbin gave up homers to 1B Anthony Rizzo, LF Ian Happ and LHP Jon Lester, the first of Lester’s career. … Lester lasted just four innings in that start, needing 104 pitches while giving up three earned runs. … He threw better the last time out, going 6 1/3 innings against the Nationals.
Coming up
Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (5-4, 2.94) vs. Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (11-8, 3.83).
Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (13-5, 3.14) vs. Astros RHP Collin McHugh (0-1, 5.32).
Tuesday: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Anthony Banda (1-2, 4.60) vs. Astros RHP Brad Peacock (10-1, 3.07).
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