'Gut punch': D-backs walked off for 6th straight loss

MINNEAPOLIS -- Several times on Sunday in Minnesota, the D-backs appeared prime to break through and end their losing streak.

Arizona had 11 hits, multiple runners in scoring position and ace Zac Gallen doing his thing on the mound. When Christian Walker homered in the ninth, the D-backs again were in position, with newly acquired closer Paul Sewald ready for his first Arizona save.

But when things are spiraling, it’s hard to change course.

Sewald surrendered two homers and the D-backs lost their sixth straight game as the Twins walked off with a 5-3 win at Target Field.

“It’s how we are right now,” manager Torey Lovullo said of the homers allowed by Sewald. “We just got to fight and we got to grind, and it’s hard because it’s supposed to be hard. We just got to show what we’re made of on Tuesday.”

The D-backs have lost 14 of their last 17 games after being swept in Minnesota. In addition to the 11 hits, Arizona batters were walked six times. They set a franchise record with eight stolen bases in the game, including three successful double steals.

But the D-backs also went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. None of the eight steals led to a run.

“It’s hard to believe,” Lovullo said. “A lot of the things that I saw today are hard to believe or hard to explain. I’ll move off of it at some point. For right now, I’m going to feel what I’m feeling and try to understand what happened.”

So, where does Arizona go from here?

The D-backs led the National League West by three games as recently as July 2. As of Sunday, they’re in third place, 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, whom they host for two games starting Tuesday.

“Frustrated, pissed off. I mean, we’re trying to win,” said Walker, whose homer was his 23rd of the season. “We’re doing everything we can in our power. Yeah, just not going our way. Nothing to do but keep working, keep preparing. It’s frustration, but it’s not giving up. It’s not hopeless or anything like that. We’re close.”

They were close Sunday.

Gallen allowed two runs in seven innings. It was a stopper-caliber performance from a pitcher who entered play Sunday with a 7-1 record and 2.06 ERA in 11 starts following D-backs losses.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on an RBI fielder’s choice from Tommy Pham. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who extended his hitting streak to eight games, had three hits and tied the game with an RBI double in the seventh.

And then Walker’s homer set up Sewald for his first save chance since being acquired from the Mariners last week.

Max Kepler homered on Sewald’s first pitch. Sewald walked pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco before rookie Matt Wallner hit a towering two-run homer.

“That’s what I was brought over here to do,” Sewald said. “With us struggling and finally getting that chance to try and get off this losing streak, and get called upon to do what I’m supposed to do and then fail miserably, it’s disappointing. These guys have been battling. They’ve been battling all year. We’ll get the ship righted, but it just really sucks for the first one to go so poorly.”

The D-backs traded for Sewald because of their inconsistent relief pitching at the end of games. Sunday marked the 20th blown save by an Arizona pitcher this season, which is tied for eighth most in MLB.

The series in Minnesota was particularly frustrating.

The D-backs lost a one-run game on Friday, 3-2, despite a strong pitching performance from Merrill Kelly. Saturday’s 12-1 loss marked the second-biggest loss of the season, and then Sunday’s walk-off only added to the disappointment.

“It’s a gut punch,” Lovullo said. “How else can you define it, right? You do a lot right during the course of a day. You’re in a great position to win the game and, you know, within three batters it completely reversed itself.”