D-backs droop after two bang-bang plays

MILWAUKEE -- For the first six innings Tuesday night, the story at American Family Field was Ketel Marte looking to pull off the D-backs’ first cycle since Aaron Hill in 2012.

But by the end, a pair of defensive miscues by Marte also loomed large. They happened during a four-run, seventh-inning rally by the Brewers, who handed Arizona a 7-5 defeat.

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“I thought we did a lot of good things,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We just didn't execute at the most critical time. I think we do a really good job of that, in most cases. But tonight, we didn't do that and it cost us.”

The D-backs led 5-3 with reliever Austin Adams on the mound in the seventh, facing the bottom of the Brewers’ order. He issued a leadoff walk to Luis Urías in an eight-pitch plate appearance, bringing up Blake Perkins.

Perkins hit a chopper to Marte, and the second baseman came charging in and scooped it up. Marte came to a stop. Then, with his body positioned to throw to first base, he looked back at Urías running to second.

With how slowly the ball was hit (70 mph exit velocity, per Statcast), it would have been tough for Marte to get Urías at second. He turned back to throw to first, but a hustling Perkins was steps away from the bag. He beat the toss for an infield single.

“I was just trying to throw to second, but when I [looked up] I was in a bad position to throw over there,” Marte said. “I never thought he was as fast as that. It happens. It maybe cost us the game.”

Joey Wiemer followed with a comebacker that deflected off Adams’ glove. Marte made a nice recovery on the play. After initially moving to his right, he angled back left to slide and scoop up the grounder.

Marte got to his feet quickly but hesitated for a moment. Though he appeared to have a play on Wiemer at first, Marte tossed to second for a forceout attempt. Perkins slid in safely ahead of the throw.

“That was a crazy play,” Marte said. “It’s something that happened in the game that I can’t do anything about. I was just trying to get an out, but like I said, that guy is fast.”

Said Lovullo: “Ketel is an unbelievable player, an unbelievable defender. He just was trying to make some plays and looked off in a couple of situations, instead of going directly to the base and getting the sure out.”

It was a tough break for Marte and the D-backs, as Wiemer’s infield hit loaded the bases with nobody out. Kyle Nelson entered, and Christian Yelich knocked in a run on a groundout to the mound. William Contreras followed with a two-run double to the left-center gap that gave Milwaukee the lead.

“Of course, we feel like we're in a different spot if we get that first out,” Lovullo said. “But it just goes to show you, you can't take anything for granted. You’ve got to complete plays, you’ve got to make pitches, you’ve got to finish at-bats, tack on runs.

“We didn't do a lot of things right today. The seventh inning, obviously, is the one that everyone is thinking about, but there's more to this game that I felt like we could have done better.”

It was certainly a cruel twist of fate, as the D-backs were in position to win largely because of Marte. He doubled in the first inning and then scored the game’s first run.

He came up again in the second and crushed a three-run homer to right field that registered a 110.9 mph exit velocity and gave Arizona a 4-0 lead.

“He’s not missing pitches that he's looking for, particularly from the left-hand side,” Lovullo said of the switch-hitter. “He's balanced and through the baseball, and he's putting a charge in. There were a lot of hard-hit balls on some quality pitchers and quality pitches.”

Entering the day, the D-backs were 37-13 when they score at least four runs.

“You get out to a 4-0 lead, and you feel like, ‘We're in a good spot; we're in a really good spot,’” Lovullo said. “And all the way ’til that seventh inning, I felt like we were in a good spot. We just didn't capitalize.”