D-backs poised to 'kick the door down' in West

PHOENIX -- Last Sunday afternoon, the D-backs were teetering on the brink.

Having lost six straight games to fall two games under .500, it appeared like the bottom might be about to fall out on their season.

Wednesday afternoon, though, the D-backs beat the Dodgers, 8-2, to take two of three from the National League West leaders and, including that extra-inning win over the Giants on Sunday, they have won three of four to climb back to the .500 mark and keep themselves right in the middle of the NL Wild Card chase.

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“I think a lot of it is maybe people writing us off,” catcher Carson Kelly said. “We’re here and we believe that we’re a really good team. We just continue to battle. We grind out there. Sometimes it doesn’t go our way, but it will go our way if we continue to keep putting the foot on the gas pedal. When you lose six, seven in a row, you can’t sit back and sulk on what’s gone wrong.”

The D-backs finished the homestand with a 3-6 record, not ideal by any means, but quite an accomplishment considering they were swept in a three-game series by the Rockies and dropped the first two of a three-game set with the Giants.

“I thought our guys did a great job of rebounding, sticking together and pressing on,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

The D-backs have been on the brink more than once this year. They’ve twice had losing streaks of five games and one that lasted six.

“We’ve had some really hot moments and some really cold moments, and maybe that’s some of our youthfulness, I don’t know,” Lovullo said. “I would like to see those five-game losing streaks get severed somewhere in the middle and continue on those six- or seven-game winning streaks that we can get on, but that’s part of the game.”

Even with those losing streaks, Arizona has managed to avoid falling more than three games under .500. That happened to the D-backs once when they were 6-9, but since that time, they’ve never been more than two under.

“We don’t give up and we don’t give in,” outfielder Jarrod Dyson said. “I think that’s the main goal for us. We go out there and play until the last out is made. We know what type of team we have. We know what type of offense we have and you give us a crack, we’ll kick down the door, so we never give up and never give in.”

Dyson made a big impact Wednesday with three hits, two stolen bases and a highlight home run robbery of a Joc Pederson blast in the seventh inning.

While taking two of three from the Dodgers was nice, the D-backs can’t afford a letdown in their final nine games before the All-Star break, with all of those contests coming against division foes.

Arizona plays four games in San Francisco and then two in Los Angeles before coming home to face Colorado for three before the break.

“That’s what we want,” Dyson said. “Step up to the challenge. This is a big stretch for us. We know we can gain ground right here and put ourselves in a good spot for the All-Star break.”

Games within the division have been a challenge for the D-backs, who are 14-25 against their fellow NL West opponents.

“It’s huge,” Lovullo said of the upcoming stretch. “You’ve got to take care of business within your division.”