D-backs can't crack deGrom as funk continues

NEW YORK -- Jacob deGrom on the mound was not a welcome sight for a D-backs team already stuck in an offensive funk.
The D-backs fanned 16 times, including 13 at the hands of deGrom, as they fell, 3-1, to the Mets at Citi Field on Friday night.
The loss was the eighth in the last nine games for the D-backs, who have scored more than two runs just twice over that stretch.
"They're frustrating," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of his team's at-bats. "I know you've got to give some credit to deGrom. He had good stuff. His ball is taking off in the top of the zone and he had good, late life on both corners. I mean, give some credit where credit is due, but I feel like we're a better offensive team than we've been showing."

Arizona was hoping that the return of third baseman Jake Lamb off the disabled list would provide an offensive spark, and in some ways it did, as Lamb accounted for the team's lone run when he doubled home Steven Souza Jr. in the sixth inning.
"I thought it was a great at-bat for him. To basically get off the airplane last night and walk into this environment and have the type of night he did, with that big hit, was a nice sign for us," Lovullo said. "I know he's going to continue to build on that. Hopefully good things are on the horizon."
• Souza to have MRI after injuring right pectoral muscle

The D-backs' 24-11 start to the season gave them some cushion in the National League West race, and they have been a confident bunch after last year's run to the top NL Wild Card spot. But after 10 days of struggles, there is certainly some frustration.
"It falls on us as individuals and as a team to find something that works, but it's not as easy as saying, 'We have to do something different,'" veteran infielder Daniel Descalso said. "It takes a commitment and an approach and going out there and executing."

The D-backs did have some opportunities against deGrom, but they finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
"We hurt," Lovullo said of the struggles. "I hurt with these guys. They hurt individually. We hurt as a group. We know where we've got to get to. We're trying every single day to do our very best. At some point it's going to turn. We're not going to have a 16-strikeout game. We're going to have the type of hitting we expect, with timely hitting and execution. We've got to keep grinding away at it. That's all I know."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Just missed: D-backs right-hander Zack Godley walked Brandon Nimmo to open the first, and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a grounder to short. Shortstop Ketel Marte fielded the ball and threw to Descalso covering second. The ball hit off Descalso's glove and rather than being out, Nimmo advanced to third. The error would lead to a pair of unearned runs in the first inning, a hole the D-backs never climbed out of.
"I was playing a little bit over in the hole," Descalso said. "On the run to second base, I just didn't put myself in a very good position to take the throw there, kind of getting to the bag at the same time the throw was getting there and just didn't come up with it. But I've got to make that play."

SOUND SMART
D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for just the fourth time in his career. The five-time All-Star has struggled at the plate for much of the season, batting just .203.
"I know a lot is swirling around him right now, and it was a tough day for him, a tough night," Lovullo said. "I know he's going to go back to the drawing board tonight. He's going to get back to the basics of what he needs to get back to. There's nobody that teaches himself better than Paul. He's got hitting coaches that are with him every day grinding it out. He will come out the other side, I am very, very certain of that."

HE SAID IT
"I think once this thing gets moving in a good direction, you're going to see everybody turn the tide." -- Lovullo, on his team's offensive struggles
UP NEXT
The D-backs will send Patrick Corbin to the mound Saturday at 4:10 p.m. MST at Citi Field as the New York native looks to rebound from his first loss of the year. Corbin took the defeat Monday when he allowed four runs in six innings against the Brewers at Chase Field. In seven career games (six starts) against the Mets, Corbin is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA. New York will counter with left-hander Steven Matz.