Diamondbacks’ Wild Card pitching gamble got them to NLDS, but also helped get them swept

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks saw their season end Monday night, undone by poor starting pitching and a chain of events that started with the decision to use starter Robbie Ray in relief in the National League Wild Card game. Arizona never recovered in the NLDS, but it was a move they had to make to help them even get there in the first place.

The Diamondbacks were swept by the Dodgers in three games in the NLDS, culminating in a 3-1 loss at Chase Field Monday night.

Wild Card teams are usually at a disadvantage in the Division Series because they have to use their ace in the Wild Card game itself, usually leaving that pitcher unavailable until Game 3 in the NLDS. That was the case for the Diamondbacks, who started Zack Greinke against the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card game last Wednesday, then in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers Monday night.

Staked to a 6-0 lead through three innings, Greinke faltered in the fourth inning, and was pulled after allowing four runs. With their lead trimmed to just two runs, and faced with a win-or-go-home situation, Arizona doubled down and called on Ray, their second best starting pitcher, to pitch in relief.

Ray pitched 2⅓ innings, and allowed a run, but he helped keep the Rockies at bay in a game the Diamondbacks ultimately won 11-8. After throwing 34 pitches on what would have been his throw day, Ray was unavailable for Game 1 against the Dodgers, instead pushed to Game 2.

“This is an all-in moment. I felt like he was the best guy to put back in the bullpen,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s not a time where you need to save pieces and you just manage differently, in your head, and I felt like Robbie was the best option for us.”

Arizona started Taijuan Walker in Game 1, and he allowed four runs in a grueling first inning, one that saw him throw a whopping 48 pitches. Walker was pulled after just one inning, and that set the tone for the rest of the series.

The backstory here is that Ray owned the Dodgers during the regular season. He was 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts against them, and his 53 strikeouts were the most against the Dodgers in over a century.

“We really haven’t cracked the code on Robbie Ray,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the NLDS. “It’s just a matter of having the right plan, and when he does make mistakes, we’ve got to be able to capitalize on it.”

Ray made several mistakes in Game 2, and the Dodgers pounced. He walked four and threw three wild pitches, and couldn’t finish the fifth inning. Before Game 3, Lovullo said that essentially every Diamondbacks pitcher was available.

“We’ve got three Wild Card games in a row, and that’s how we’re looking at it,” Lovullo said. “There’s going to be no situation where we can play baseball tomorrow if we don’t win today.”

That’s really what it comes down to October. The postseason is all about seizing the urgency of the moment, and doing things outside of your comfort zone in an effort to try to win today, and worry about the costs tomorrow.

For the Diamondbacks, the Wild Card gambit got them through to the NLDS, but they were never able to recover after that.

The struggles continued with Greinke on Monday. He pitched fnto the sixth inning but faced just one batter in that frame — Austin Barnes, who homered.

The numbers for the series were ugly for the Diamondbacks, who were outscored 20-6 by the Dodgers in the three-game sweep. Arizona relief pitchers threw more innings than did their starters, and the rotation had a 9.58 ERA.

“We didn’t play our type of baseball for the past three games. I think everybody that followed us noticed that. We didn’t pitch particularly well at times.”

Ultimately though, despite the rough ending, the Diamondbacks had a successful season. They overhauled the front office and brought in Lovullo to manage, and rebounded from a 93-loss campaign to win 93 games in 2017. Their outlook as a franchise looks much better now than it did a year ago.

“We have laid a lot of good bricks down on our foundation,” Lovullo said. “This organization is in good hands with ownership and the front office, and I think there’s going to be a lot of successful years in the future.

“We kind of worked through the heavy-lifting phase. We advanced to the playoffs this year. We’re very proud of that. But my mindset is we haven’t quite accomplished what we need to as an organization.”