D-backs can't capitalize on Pfaadt's strong start

SAN FRANCISCO -- Where do the D-backs go from here?

In a literal sense, they go to Minneapolis for a three-game weekend series with the Twins at Target Field. But metaphorically, the answer is harder to come by following a 1-0 loss to the Giants on Thursday afternoon at Oracle Park.

The lull for the D-backs started sometime before the All-Star break and it was easier then to chalk it up as temporary. Even after they went 2-7 out of the break, it still seemed like a relatively small sample size.

But the D-backs have now dropped 18 of their last 25 games, and if the season ended today, they would be on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs are concerned. It’s getting harder and harder to just look at it as temporary.

“First of all, we're all battling a certain degree of frustration here,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “This hasn't been easy. But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We can't just go to sleep and say it's gonna happen.

“We got to find a way out of this and we got to prep, focus. We’ve got to do all the things we've done in the past to get to where we got to get to.”

There are no easy answers, though, because the coaches are working hard. The players are playing hard. The results just aren’t there.

In the final three games (all losses) of the four-game series with the Giants, the D-backs scored a total of five runs. A team that went 87 games to open the season before being shut out was blanked for the second time in the past week.

“I don't know what else to do,” Lovullo said. “I want the guys to focus on the right things. Relax and keep things simple. Now, that doesn't mean don't try hard. I want everybody's absolute best effort. But if you got the Bunsen burner out there and you're building rocket ships in between pitches, and at-bats, we don't need that.

“I want you to simplify things, go out there and execute to the best of your ability. And that's where we're at right now. The effort has been fantastic, but I think we're just overanalyzing everything.”

Lovullo tried shaking up the lineup a bit on Thursday. With Ketel Marte getting a day off, Corbin Carroll batted in the leadoff spot and newly acquired Tommy Pham hit in the No. 3 hole.

“The lineup construction has been a conversation I've had inside of my office for probably the past 10 days,” Lovullo said. “So I just felt like with Marte down, look at it a little bit differently and mix it up and shuffle it, and just see where it lands. And it didn’t work out.”

A big positive in the finale against the Giants was the performance by rookie Brandon Pfaadt. The right-hander turned in his best start in the big leagues by far as he allowed just one run on two hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven innings.

Unfortunately for Pfaadt and the D-backs, one of the two hits led to the game’s only run as LaMonte Wade Jr. homered to lead off the fourth, his second of the series.

Still, Pfaadt has now put three straight good starts together after struggling mightily in his first two stints in the Majors.

“I felt great,” Pfaadt said. “Kind of felt like I had all my pitches working. I brought in the curveball late which was a good addition. The sweeper was super effective. We were able to get it down with two strikes today.”