Big innings sink D-backs, shrink Wild Card lead

HOUSTON -- The Diamondbacks still had a chance after the Astros put one big inning on them. A second big inning was too much.

Eduardo Rodriguez unraveled in the fourth and Dylan Floro struggled in the sixth as Arizona’s pitching staff surrendered two huge frames in an 11-5 loss to Houston on Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.

The D-backs have lost three straight after taking the first two games of their road trip against the Giants. They're in third place in the National League West and saw their lead for the second NL Wild Card spot shrink to a half-game over the Mets.

“We’re going to be okay, but we’ve got to go out and play our game and do things the way we can,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “Not get sidetracked. Not get distracted. Focus, lock it in, commit and go 1-0 today. That’s been our mindset every single day. There’s times to be distracted in this game. We know it’s there in front of us, but we can’t worry about that. We have to lock in for nine of our best innings.”

Rodriguez yielded a run through his first three frames, but the fourth inning was his undoing. He walked three batters, hit another and allowed two run-scoring singles as the Astros sent 10 men to the plate and scored four runs (three earned) off the left-hander.

“It looked like his location got away from him,” Lovullo said. “The command of all his pitches was just a little off. … I just think he’s got to command the ball better in those critical times the way that he can and lock it back in. Aside from that, I thought he was pretty good. It was just too much at that time.”

Rodriguez said he felt great going into the fourth but “mistakes” cost him.

“I made a lot of mistakes, and I paid for it,” Rodriguez said. “Things like that when you make mistakes, you always pay for it.”

Overall, Rodriguez was tagged for five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks in four innings.

“Location wasn’t working today, and I paid for it,” Rodriguez said.

In five of his six starts for Arizona this season, the left-hander has allowed at least three runs. He has yet to make it through six innings in any outing, and has lasted four innings in each of his past two starts.

“I think the starting pitching sets the tone, and it makes the game look sloppy when it doesn’t go well. And when it does, it’s very crisp and very clean and organized in the bullpen,” Lovullo said. “I don’t want to be overly critical. I know it was one bad inning today, but I think overall, when starting pitching pitches well, we win baseball games.”

Floro cruised through the fifth, but he gave up singles to four of the first five batters in the sixth before Jeremy Peña hit a three-run homer to cap the five-run frame for the Astros.

“Just probably hypersensitive to the plan,” Lovullo said of the sixth. “Trying to execute the plan. It gets away from any pitcher at any time. Sometimes you have to go out there and compete and get the job done and make pitches. It got away for just a quick second.”

After being shut out Friday night, the Diamondbacks' offense woke up Saturday.

Arizona got to Houston starter Yusei Kikuchi for two runs in the second as Kevin Newman hit an RBI single and Jose Herrera had a sacrifice fly. Newman hit a solo home run in the fourth, and Eugenio Suárez hit one in the sixth. Christian Walker added an RBI single in the seventh.

“I was proud of the way we came out,” Lovullo said. “We scored some early runs and had some good at-bats. I just think we got to play nine of our best innings, and we can’t take anything for granted.

“How did it get away? We didn’t execute. We didn’t execute in some very critical times on the mound. We made some mistakes defensively. Just a couple of things that we can pinpoint that will show up as it did today with big crooked numbers and a big score against a team like this when you don’t play to the level that you’re capable of playing.”