PHOENIX -- The fans packed Chase Field to capacity for the first time since Aug. 31, 2019, and even though it was the Dodgers, whose fans often show in sizable numbers at the ballpark, this one was clearly a pro D-backs crowd.
They came to see a young, exciting D-backs team that played to a draw in six games on the road in Los Angeles and San Diego this past week. They wanted to see them run the bases with abandon like they did in a come-from-behind victory over the Padres on Tuesday.
Instead, they saw the Dodgers prevail, 5-2, behind the pitching of Dustin May, who handcuffed the Arizona offense as he had done in Los Angeles on opening weekend.
In 13 innings over two starts against the D-backs, May has allowed one run.
"You know, I want to give credit where credit's due,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “But to get to where we’re going, we’ve got to find a way to win these types of games and beat these types of pitchers. There's a certain standard here that we want to make sure that we're upholding. I believe in our hitters enough to go out there and execute against anybody, and we’ve got to believe that deep in our heart every single day we're going to go out and beat no matter who's throwing.”
May is one of the National League’s better pitchers, and he was able to limit Arizona to just one hit through the first five innings. When the D-backs aren’t getting on base, they don’t have a chance to use their greatest weapon -- their speed -- to wreak havoc on the basepaths.
When the D-backs did get runners on, they didn’t do a great job of moving them over. Josh Rojas doubled home Geraldo Perdomo in the sixth with nobody out, but was left stranded there as the 3-4-5 hitters in the order could not move him over or get him in.
The D-backs also committed some miscues defensively that hurt. It’s part of the process that comes with having a young team.
“The remedy is simple,” Lovullo said. “When you play baseball and execute at a high level, good things happen. When you don’t, when you leave runners out there, don’t move them to third base, don’t play pitch and catch, then bad things happen. We're going to have moments like this. We just got to make sure that we go out there and fine-tune every single day to make them happen less as we continue to grind out through this long season.”
The D-backs' players enjoyed the atmosphere that a sold-out Chase Field provided. It’s one that they hope they get to feel more times during the coming season.
“We've been getting spanked by the Dodgers, and normally we're playing them at home and [it feels like] we're on the road,” Rojas said. “You know, we're getting booed taking the field, stuff like that. Today was awesome. I felt like it was a home crowd, D-backs fans showed out and they were loud and they cheered us on the field. I even heard pretty heavy boos for the Dodgers. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was loud. It was electric. Just a lot of fun.”
The D-backs know that in order to get bigger crowds this year, they will need to play winning baseball like they did at times on the recent road trip.
“Obviously those are the games that are more fun for us -- more people in the stands and more energy,” starter Merrill Kelly said. “That’s the reason why we come to work. The fans are why we do what we do. The fans are why we're able to do what we do. So obviously seeing that many D-backs fans is definitely exciting, and hopefully we can string some wins together so they'll keep coming.”