When Snoop Dogg’s 2000 hit “Lay Low” starts blasting over the Chase Field speakers, Torey Lovullo’s blood pressure drops a little.

The song has become best-known to Diamondbacks fans as the warm-up music for right-hander Greg Holland, who has converted all seven of his save opportunities and has yet to allow a run this season.

“He’s been very reliable,” Lovullo said of Holland. “We depend on him to close down the games and when I hear his warm-up song, I have a calm and an ease to me knowing he’s going to get those last three outs.”

Holland picked up consecutive saves less than 20 hours apart as the Diamondbacks swept the New York Yankees in a two-game series.

Lovullo said Wednesday’s game was the first instance where he “sat up a little further” on his seat watching Holland pitch, as the Yankees were able to get the tying run to first base with one out. But Holland was able to retire the next two hitters to secure a 3-2 win.

Despite the slight hiccup, Wednesday was a perfect example of how Holland, 33, has learned to pitch without the fastball velocity he once possessed.

“I think, as you get older, anyone who plays long enough has to figure out how to get the same end result to be successful,” said Holland, who has recorded 14 consecutive scoreless appearances dating back to 2018. “For me, I’ve gotten better at commanding the zone and reading hitters. When I was younger, I was just trying to strike everyone out. And I did that quite a bit, but it was 25-30 pitch innings a lot of times.

“I don’t think about diminished stuff or anything like that. I’m still competing the same way I was when I was 25 years old. I just have a better idea of how to pitch.”

Last season, Holland finished with a bloated 4.66 ERA but didn’t sign until March 31 and admitted he did a poor job of acclimating to his new team, the St. Louis Cardinals. This season, however, Holland had a chance to get settled — and that comfort has translated to confidence in a closing role for the surging Diamondbacks.

Holland’s blood pressure might not drop when “Lay Low” plays, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a pitcher who feeds off adrenaline.

“I think you’ve got to be confident if you want to be successful,” Holland said. “That being said, there’s a point in times when my blood pressure rises when I’m out there. I just enjoy competing. Obviously you don’t want a bunch of situations where you have guys on base and traffic, but you have to learn to embrace those situations – not enjoy them, but learn how to handle them.”

Godley speaks

Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Godley acknowledged there are several parts of his game he intends to iron out with pitching coach Mike Butcher, and that his own performance forced Lovullo to take him out of the rotation.

“I respect Torey’s decision,” Godley said about being relegated to the bullpen. “I forced him to make a decision and I’ve just got to pitch better. It’s an opportunity for me to go back to what I did starting out and get back to doing what I do best, and that’s being aggressive, getting ahead of guys and getting guys out. It’s one of those things where I understand it and all I can do is take advantage of the opportunity I have right now.”

Godley did not care to delve into specifics regarding what exactly needs work, except for saying, “There’s a few different things that ‘Butch’ (Butcher) and I have been looking at and working on.”

“If you’ve been around the game long enough you know that pitching is never just one little thing,” Godley said. “There’s always a bunch of things that go into one little thing. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Godley, 29, has appeared in 23 games as a reliever and was used frequently out of the bullpen until being moved into a full-time starting role in 2017. Godley owns a 2-1 career record to go along with a 4.21 ERA as a reliever; conversely, he owns a 4.64 ERA as a starter.

“I’ve done pretty much all of it during the course of my career,” Godley said of pitching in different roles. “It’s an opportunity for me to get some stuff figured out and get guys out.”

Short hops

• Catcher Alex Avila (quad) has ramped up his baseball activities and was running the bases at Chase Field prior to Wednesday’s game. It is unclear whether Avila will require a rehab assignment before he is activated.
• The Diamondbacks have recorded an extra-base hit in 37 consecutive games dating back to last season, tied for the second-longest such streak in the majors.

Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ramorin_azc. Subscribe to azcentral today.