Rojas' light-hearted pitching debut helps D-backs flush blowout

PHOENIX -- By the time he took the mound to start the ninth inning with the D-backs trailing the Phillies by eight runs, there was next to nothing that Josh Rojas could do to change what the final result would be, but the infielder could provide a couple of benefits.

First, he could save Arizona from having to use an actual pitcher for an inning. And second, he could provide some levity on a night in which nothing went right for the D-backs in a 15-3 loss, and that in turn could help them turn the page for Wednesday.

The D-backs entered the game on a heck of a roll. Winners of 12 of their last 14 games before Tuesday’s setback, they have the best record in the National League. It had been a while since they had a clunker of a game, so it’s easier to take this one in stride and move forward.

“This was, for me, a total outlier,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. We just have to digest it, throw it out and be ready tomorrow. The game just didn't really have a rhythm to it from where I was.”

The Phillies jumped Zach Davies for four runs in the first inning and two in the third.

Davies lasted three innings, but that in itself was an accomplishment considering it took him 85 pitches to do so.

With the D-backs facing a 7-0 deficit after five innings, Lovullo began looking toward Wednesday when it came to his pitching staff.

Joe Mantiply, making his first appearance of the year after opening the season on the injured list with a hamstring injury, managed to throw the sixth through eighth innings. Actually, more than managing to throw those innings, he fought to do so.

With three runs in and two outs in the eighth, Lovullo headed to the mound to take out Mantiply, but the lefty waved Lovullo back to the dugout, telling him that he wanted to get the final out of the inning, which he did.

That left the ninth, and Lovullo turned to Rojas, who said he may have pitched at some point in summer league play eight years ago. Regardless, Rojas has been itching for a chance to do it.

But, be careful what you wish for. That 60 feet, 6 inches is not as great of a distance as you might think.

“First of all, I was telling these guys, ‘It's not safe being that close to the hitter,’” Rojas said. “I felt very nervous that they were going to hit one right back at me.”

The Phillies didn’t do that, but they did square up some balls, with five of their swings resulting in 95-plus mph exit velocities.

Rojas did touch 70 mph with a pitch, but he also registered several pitches in the 30s.

“I wanted to let it eat a little bit more, but I didn't get to warm up like in the cage or anything, so I just played it safe,” Rojas said.

Rojas did try out some different windups on the mound, with a couple Johnny Cueto “shimmy” deliveries.

“That's one of my favorite guys to watch,” Rojas said of Cueto. “I've always told the pitchers they should do that more to mess up timings. It doesn't work as well when you're throwing 36 mph. The long [shimmy] was actually because I was about to lose my balance and fall.”

The Phillies pounded five hits and scored four runs in the ninth and Rojas’ strategy of trying to throw lob balls that would cross the plate too high for hitters to hit, but then drop down and look like strikes when Carson Kelly caught them was foiled by veteran home-plate umpire Jerry Layne.

“He didn't fall for it,” Rojas said. “He was on top of it.”

In the end, the bullpen was saved for Wednesday, and despite the frustration of the loss, the D-backs were able to end the game with a little bit of humor.

“I don't like pitching position players,” Lovullo said. “I've never liked waving the white flag, and I think that's what it means. But it gave us a little jump-start. It’s 9:30 p.m. and we probably already are starting to spit this one out with a little bit of sense of humor after watching Rojas.”