D-backs drop opener, but relentless effort pleases Lovullo

PHOENIX -- If the D-backs’ recent surge can be largely attributed to any single factor, it’s been the productivity of their lineup. A lineup -- manager Torey Lovullo says -- that is “never out of a game.”

While the D-backs’ showing in a 6-4 loss to the Phillies on Thursday night at Chase Field to open a high-octane four-game series certainly didn’t characterize the type of performance their bats have grown accustomed to during that stretch, the signs were there.

After managing just three hits through the first four-plus innings against Phillies starter Kolby Allard, Arizona was able to create traffic and sizable scoring chances in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings, albeit to no avail in the end. The D-backs stranded eight and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

But the quality at-bats, frequent hard contact and willingness to fight exemplified Lovullo’s overall sentiment.

“I feel very good about our at-bats,” Lovullo said. “Our overall run total is near the league leaders, our average runs per game is fantastic. So I’m very pleased with it. But I don’t want to be complacent. I want us to do the things we’re doing, and I know we are, that’s leading us down that road of having this type of success.

“We are a tough team to face one through nine. I’ve heard someone say that we’re the toughest at-bats they’ve had to face one through nine. I’m proud of that, a lot goes into that.”

The D-backs have won 12 of their past 15 games, a stretch in which they are hitting .295, propelling themselves into the National League Wild Card picture while trimming the Dodgers’ lead over them in the NL West to just 3 1/2 games. Of Arizona’s three losses in that span, each have been decided by two runs or fewer.

Never out of a game indeed.

“I think there’s a lot of things we’ve done really well,” said outfielder Jake McCarthy, who tallied three hits and drove in three runs. “Timely hitting is something that you can’t really prepare for. You don’t really know what it feels like until the game is on the line and you’re in the box, but I think we’ve done an awesome job with that.”

McCarthy’s two-run shot in the sixth inning and RBI single to cut the deficit to two in the ninth perhaps best showcased the lineup’s resilience, highlighting two particularly crucial scoring opportunities that ultimately fell short.

Arizona stranded a pair of runners with nobody out after the first four men reached base in the sixth in response to a four-run top half for the Phillies against starter Jordan Montgomery. The ninth saw the tying run come to the plate after a single by McCarthy, who moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. flied out to end the game.

Preceding that was Eugenio Suárez’s solo homer to break a scoreless tie in the fifth, a 109.5 mph shot off the left-field foul pole that snapped a string of nine straight batters retired by Allard. Since catching fire at the beginning of July, Suárez owns a 1.052 OPS with 11 homers and 31 RBIs. He is one of many key players who have helped steer the trajectory of the club in a positive direction.

“I was proud of the way we fought,” Lovullo said. “We came out with the intensity that we did. This team was ready to go.”

Montgomery, who entered with a 6.37 ERA over 16 starts, came one out shy of six scoreless innings against the best team in the NL. While he certainly wasn’t as sharp at the end of his outing as he was through the first three frames, there were still plenty of good to take away for the lefty, who punched out four and walked just three over 5 2/3 innings.

All four Phillies runs came with two outs in the sixth, starting with an RBI double to Weston Wilson. Dylan Floro inherited a bases-loaded jam and gave up the final three runs charged to Montgomery’s line soon after.

“Starting to just try and find the positive in every outing I can and lean on it,” Montgomery said. “It’s a good lineup. I went out there and held them and went deep into the game. I’m pretty proud of myself.”