Diamondbacks offense shut down again at Coors Field

DENVER – If there were a venue in baseball that could be a salve for the Diamondbacks’ offensive issues on the road, it figured Coors Field would be it. The Diamondbacks hoped that, as they have so many times before, they might arrive in Denver in a funk only to leave town as a hot-hitting team.

Instead, their struggles only intensified here over the weekend, raising questions about whether these road woes might plague them throughout the summer. On Sunday, they managed only three hits in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

The Diamondbacks again had trouble getting the ball out of the infield; they hit just two to the outfield on Saturday and had only four on Sunday, a pair of singles and two fly outs. They had just one extra-base hit after the fourth inning on Friday night.

“There’s probably not enough data at this point for me to worry about it,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “If it was the middle of August, I probably would be a little bit more concerned.”

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He is right in believing the sample size is small. But it is growing, and the road funk is costing them games. They finished this trip with a 2-4 record – they’ve lost three consecutive series dating back to the previous weekend, when they dropped two of three to these same Rockies at Chase Field – and are 6-10 this season away from home.

The good news is they’ll be back at Chase on Tuesday. Their next nine games – and 12 of the next 15 – will be at home. But that doesn’t make what happened at Coors Field over the weekend any easier to fathom.

They set club records for fewest hits (18) and lowest average (.189) in a three-game series at Coors Field, a place they’ve been coming to two or three times a year since 1998. The nine runs they scored were the fewest in a three-game set since September 2010.

“I have no idea,” right fielder David Peralta said when asked to explain the home/road splits. “I feel like we do the same thing. We come here early, we work, we do all those things, it’s just not going to the way we want on the road. But we can’t think about that. We just have to keep working and do our thing.”

In 17 games at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks have hit .301 and are averaging 6.5 runs per game. But in 15 road games, they’re hitting .205 and averaging just 3.3 runs.

“We haven’t been able to link at-bats together,” third baseman Jake Lamb said. “And you can’t hit a bunch of solo homers against a team like this. You’ve got to put ABs together, get guys on the bases, especially the way we run the bases. We just weren’t able to do that. We weren’t really playing our game. Against a team like this, the way they’ve been playing, that’s just not going to cut it.”

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Their defense didn’t help them on Sunday, either. With two out and the bases empty in the sixth, they made a pair of miscues that led to a three-run inning for the Rockies. After Chris Owings misplayed a ground ball, Peralta tripped and fell in pursuit of a fly ball, and after scrambling to his feet and seemingly getting himself in position to make the play, he lost the ball in the sun.

He said he had his sunglasses on his hat when the play began because, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been looking into the sun for a fly ball.

“If I was looking that way (toward home plate), the sun was over there (to my right),” he said. “But when I fell down and then started looking at the ball, I was looking straight into the sun.”

Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood became the latest pitcher to get well against the Diamondbacks, giving up one run in seven innings despite entering the game having allowed four runs or more in five of his six starts.

“Offensively, we’re in a rut right now,” Lovullo said. “We’re grinding. I think Chatwood deserves some credit. He threw the ball very, very well. But I think we’re a better offensive team. It’s just we’re in a little bit of a rut right now, and we’ll find our way out of it.”

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

ADDITIONAL READING: Diamondbacks’ bats held in check at Coors Field on Saturday

Coming up

Monday: Off.

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (2-2, 3.47) vs. Tigers RHP Justin Verlander (2-2, 4.21).

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (0-0, 3.60) vs. Tigers LHP Matt Boyd (2-2, 3.78).

Thursday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (3-2, 3.09) vs. Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl (1-2, 5.54).