Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo recently called his starting rotation into his office during a road trip in Chicago following a tough stretch.
“It was to remind us that we are really good, and what we are going through now is not who we are,” right-hander Merrill Kelly said.
Perhaps the meeting wasn’t necessary.
“Obviously, Torey’s message was good,” Kelly said. “But at the end of the day, we’ve been doing this for a long time. We know when we are pitching well. We all knew we weren’t doing our job. At the end of the day, we all felt we had to be better.”
The pitchers have shown improvement, even though Arizona has gone just 2-8 since the start of its road series in Chicago against the Cubs. The Diamondbacks have recorded quality starts in four of their last five outings, including Kelly’s 2-1 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday, which evened the series at one game apiece. The rubber game takes place Sunday in Phoenix.
Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0, 2.50 ERA), who began the five-game stretch last Tuesday, takes the mound Sunday as the Diamondbacks aim for their first series win since taking a set from the Toronto Blue Jays from April 17-19.
The Mets are expected to counter with left-hander David Peterson (1-4, 6.29) for the bulk of the game, likely following an opener. Right-hander Huascar Brazoban (2-0, 1.53) is listed as the starter on MLB.com.
Kelly delivered his best start of the season on Saturday, allowing three hits and one run over seven innings after being delayed out of spring training with a back injury. In his previous three starts, he had surrendered 19 runs over 13 2/3 innings.
“You almost felt like the kid who finally passed the test, who’s been getting Fs the whole time but finally got an A,” Kelly said.
The Mets continued to struggle offensively, managing just three hits on Saturday after recording five hits—only two in the first nine innings—in a 3-1, 10-inning victory in the series opener Friday.
They wasted a strong outing from Clay Holmes, who allowed two runs and five hits over 5 2/3 innings while tying a season high with six strikeouts.
“I thought he was very good, even though they put together some really good at-bats,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “They made him work.”
Arizona’s Rodriguez threw seven scoreless innings in a 9-0 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday to start the streak, his best start in 46 outings with the Diamondbacks.
“They’re dudes,” Lovullo said of his rotation. “They’re tough. I just created an awareness.”
Before Rodriguez’s gem, the Diamondbacks had gone 13 straight games—more than two times through the rotation—without a starter lasting six innings. He gave up two hits, struck out seven, and walked three. Only one Pirates hitter reached third base against Rodriguez, who threw a season-high 103 pitches.
Rodriguez delivered his own strong message to Lovullo when the manager made a mound visit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday with Arizona leading 7-0.
“He backed me down and said, ‘Give me one last hitter,'” Lovullo said. “I told him, ‘This is your last hitter.’ I challenged him. He challenged me back. I like that kind of stuff. It fires me up.”
Rodriguez is 2-1 with a 5.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets, his best outing this season coming in a 7-1 victory at Citi Field on April 9, when he allowed one run and five hits in six innings.
