D-backs perk up with Pham's HR, but skid persists

PHOENIX -- The first inning for the D-backs on Friday night at Chase Field seemed promising. They worked a pair of walks, got fortunate with a cue shot down the first-base line and grabbed an early lead.

Sure, they could only get one run out of it and a pair of runners were thrown out at home plate, but it felt hopeful. And hope for the D-backs has been hard to come by during their recent struggles.

“I was glad with how we prepared to come out in the first inning,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I thought we made a statement with some really good takes, built the inning via the walk.”

Then, before they knew it, the Padres scored two runs in the second and four in the third and once again the D-backs were on their way to defeat, this one by a 10-5 margin.

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The loss was the ninth straight for the reeling D-backs and they have now lost 25 of their last 32 games, falling from 16 games above .500 to two games below.

It was just 32 games ago that the D-backs were in first place in the NL West. Now, they are three games back of a Wild Card berth and the Padres are breathing down their necks, just one game behind them.

It was not the way they wanted to start off a stretch in which seven of 10 games are against San Diego, but it was just what the Padres needed.

“Every game is important,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “We have seven games against these guys here in the next 10. So we're chasing some teams, they're one of them. We have to beat them to catch them. So [it’s] a good start.”

The D-backs made a game of it, down 7-1 they scored a run in the sixth and then got a three-run homer from Tommy Pham in the eighth to pull within 7-5.

But setup man Scott McGough couldn’t hold things there. He allowed three runs in the ninth to put the Padres in control once again.

“It was too big of a hole early on that we had dug ourselves,” Lovullo said. “It was just too much for us to overcome.”

The five runs scored by the D-backs was their biggest offensive output since they scored seven runs on July 26 against the Cardinals, but they still are not having the type of at-bats their manager would like to see.

“Overall we just didn't we didn't play our game or have the bats that we needed to,” Lovullo said. “As far as the bats, I just look for us to be a little bit more dynamic through the course of the at-bat. Slug the pitch you’re looking for. If it’s not there, take it, have a good two-strike approach and an all-field approach.

“I think when you create that dynamic aspect of your approach, you become unpredictable as a hitter and pitchers start to make mistakes. I think we’re slowly coming out of it but we're looking fairly similar day after day after day from an offensive standpoint, so we’ve got to make some adjustments.”

D-backs starter Ryne Nelson, who allowed six runs on seven hits over three innings, probably summed things up best.

“The game is just not being very kind to us right now,” Nelson said.