D-Backs drop series finale to Miami after ninth-inning collapse

Mark Melancon stood along with his again to residence plate, sweeping the dust off Chase Subject’s pitching mound.

If he had appeared to his left, he would have seen Diamondbacks supervisor Torey Lovullo popping out of the dugout to finish his afternoon at 20 pitches, six batters and two outs.  If he had appeared up, he would have seen a ‘4’ filling the away ninth on the center-field scoreboard, the second time this homestand {that a} aggressive sport has unraveled with Arizona’s nearer unable to get by the ninth.

The Diamondbacks’ afternoon solely acquired worse Wednesday when J.B. Wendelken allowed 4 extra runs, bringing the ultimate rating to 11-3 — probably the most runs Arizona has allowed in its 17-15 begin. In between a pair of groundouts from Marlins heart fielder Jesus Sanchez, Melancon and Wendelken mixed to permit eight consecutive two-out hits, together with a three-run homer from Jazz Chisholm, the crucial blow that ended Melancon’s outing.

Pitching for the second-straight day because of a abdomen bug that sidelined relievers Joe Mantiply and Keynan Middleton, Wendelken couldn’t maintain his pitches down, leaving every of his 5 surrendered hits up within the “hazard zone,” as Lovullo places it.

It was Melancon, although, who let the sport slip away after Jordan Luplow had tied it with a two-run pinch-hit homer within the backside of the eighth. The outing gave Melancon his fourth loss in 12 appearances and dropped his ERA to six.75.

“He is not commanding his cutter pretty much as good as we have seen him or pretty much as good as he expects,” Lovullo mentioned. “It is placing him in a state of affairs the place he is perhaps gotta again off of it and put it just a little bit extra in the midst of the plate. He is shut. He is very shut. However it all comes right down to command with him.”

The Diamondbacks’ day began with comparable pitching struggles. Starter Merrill Kelly, who entered the day with a 1.22 ERA, allowed three runs on 5 hits and two walks within the first two innings as Miami jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.

Arizona, although, battled again, persevering with a tenacious development that’s been crucial to its 11-4 run over the previous two weeks. Taking part in in his fourth main league sport, heart fielder Alek Thomas hit a 98 mph fastball 414 ft the opposite manner within the third inning for his first profession residence run.

“He is only a very participating participant, a really thrilling participant,” Lovullo mentioned of Thomas, a consensus top-50 prospect. “He can do a whole lot of issues on the baseball area. He is younger, he is studying, however while you see him sq. up a baseball and hit it (414) ft the other manner, you recognize that you’ve a really sound swing.”

After his tough begin, Kelly bounced again to get by 5 innings with none additional injury, turning the sport over to Caleb Smith. The left-hander, who’s been stricken by inconsistency this season, delivered his greatest efficiency of the 12 months, hanging out six in three excellent innings.

“It is big,” Kelly mentioned. “Particularly once I solely go 5, there’s much more innings than I might’ve appreciated to have them cowl, however (Smith) went on the market and simply shoved.”

That set the stage for Luplow, who later referred to as pinch-hitting the “hardest factor in baseball to do.” Without any consideration-handed hitter with profession .904 OPS towards lefties, although, Luplow was the pure choice for Lovullo with lefty Pavin Smith’s flip within the order coming towards Marlins’ left-handed reliever Steven Okert.

On Wednesday, Luplow stuffed the pinch-hitting function expertly, taking a first-pitch slider and blasting it into the seats in left area.

That set the stage for the ninth, with the Diamondbacks one run away from their first season sweep of a Nationwide League opponent since they went 6-0 towards Houston in 2012.

“I simply felt like if we acquired again within the dugout within the backside of the ninth inning … I felt like we had been gonna win that sport,” Lovullo mentioned.

Solely by the point the Diamondbacks acquired there, they trailed, 11-3, a valiant comeback try killed by their worst inning of the 12 months.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona highschool sports activities and Phoenix Rising FC. He may be reached by e mail at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.