The Arizona Diamondbacks' pitching staff hit rock bottom as a stagnant offense struggled to support Gabriel Moreno’s grand slam against the Boston Red Sox.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have dropped three in a row as they fell to the Boston Red Sox, 9-4.
This five-run loss is the latest in a three-game skid, one that has put them just five games above .500.
In a crucial Wild Card race, these are simply games Arizona cannot afford to lose.
Fresh off a week where the D-backs moved up in the power rankings while the Red Sox fell a spot, it was tough to see Boston take games one and two in such convincing fashion.
Throughout the first two games of the series, the Diamondbacks have been outscored, 20-5, and have been outhit, 29-11.
Diamondbacks pitching staff has hit rock bottom
Not many teams in baseball are able to record 20 runs on 29 hits in a pair of games. For whatever reason, things just aren't clicking for the Diamondbacks rotation at the current moment.
They're going to need to find some answers quickly, otherwise things could get ugly. Merrill Kelly only went four innings in this game, but it was far from just Kelly who deserves the blame
Sure, Kelly fell to 8-11 on the year, but this bullpen still let three more runs come across after he exited. In total, the bullpen allowed six hits in five innings compared to Kelly's seven hits in four innings, but as a team, Arizona walked six batters while only striking out three.
All four D-backs runs came on one hit
In a game where the Diamondbacks scored runs, it wouldn't be many peoples first guess that all four of those came from a grand slam.
Gabriel Moreno did just that as he crushed a 428-foot homer to dead center in the top of the third inning.
Moreno's 10th home run of the year actually put the D-backs on top, 4-3, but Arizona would give up six unanswered from the third through seventh innings that led to another lopsided loss.
Is Arizona a true Wild Card contender?
At the time of writing, the Diamondbacks are now 1.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot. The Chicago Cubs have a commanding six game lead, and then the Philadelphia Phillies are 1.5 games up, but from there, things get interesting.
The D-backs +3 run differential is the second worst among the seven teams who are six games within one another. They are tied for the worst record among those teams in the last 10 games (4-6), so it's clear a flip needs to switch in order for this team to get back into it.
