D-backs take solace in another series win after 'pen falters late

CHICAGO -- The job of a baseball manager is a balancing act over the course of 162 games. Sometimes it means looking at the big picture and holding back using a reliever so he’ll be fresh the next day.

And sometimes, it means you’ve got to do all you can to win today’s game and let tomorrow take care of itself.

There are no right or wrong answers. Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn’t.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo faced one of those decisions Saturday night against the Cubs.

Arizona had won the first game of the three-game set Friday using its top four relievers -- Justin Martinez, Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald -- to do it. On Saturday, with the D-backs leading 3-0, Lovullo again went to the four relievers to close it out.

It was a chance to lock in a series win and Lovullo wasn’t going to pass it up, because if you keep winning series during a season, you’re going to wind up in a good spot when it’s over. The four held the Cubs in check and the D-backs pushed their record in the last six series to 5-0-1.

Lovullo did it knowing that three of the relievers, or maybe all four, wouldn’t be available Sunday. Indeed, only Martinez was able to pitch and he gave up a one-run lead in the ninth in an eventual 2-1 loss in 10 innings.

“I sold out to [win the series] yesterday by using the big four guys that we had and we won the series yesterday,” Lovullo said. “And no, I don't regret it at all. We won a series and we’re going to continue to fight and we’re going to win more games.”

That the D-backs were able to take a 1-0 lead into the late innings Sunday was thanks to another outstanding pitching performance by Brandon Pfaadt. The right-hander allowed just one hit, an infield single to Christopher Morel in the second, while striking out seven over seven innings of work.

Pfaadt and Shota Imanaga hooked up in a pitchers' duel, with neither hurler blinking until the seventh when Eugenio Suárez launched a home run to left field to give Arizona a 1-0 lead.

"The fastball has some carry to it a little bit, so we saw a lot of fly balls that just didn't do anything,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Pfaadt. “And he was executing pitches, too. We saw him in the playoffs pitch some really nice games, and this was a well-pitched game."

Pfaadt was done after seven innings and 94 pitches and Lovullo turned to rookie Bryce Jarvis to pitch the eighth.

Once Jarvis got through the eighth unscathed, Lovullo brought in the rookie Martinez, who has been gradually working into higher-leverage situations as he gains more experience.

“It's all very intentional,” Lovullo said. “I'm just trying to do it in small doses until it's his time, but he's going to find himself in the back end of a lot of games. In a situation where Paul [Sewald] was down, I felt very comfortable knowing that he had the right heartbeat and has been in those situations before. He had a total shutdown inning yesterday against pretty much the same couple of hitters.”

This time, though, Nico Hoerner was able to shoot a 98.9 mph fastball the other way down the right-field line for a leadoff double in the ninth. One out later, Seiya Suzuki grounded a single up the middle and the game was tied.

The Cubs would eventually win it in the 10th, as reliever Joe Mantiply intentionally walked Dansby Swanson to put runners at first and second to start the inning. After a bunt single loaded the bases, Mantiply was able to get Pete Crow-Armstrong to fly out.

Lovullo then went to reliever Humberto Castellanos to try and escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam, but Castellanos walked Hoerner to force in the winning run.