D-Backs end record road losing streak
It’s not that the Diamondbacks never lose when Merrill Kelly is on the mound, it’s that those are the only times they actually win.
Five days after bringing an end to a club-record 17-game losing streak, Kelly helped the Diamondbacks stop their modern-day, major-league record 24game road losing streak by tossing six scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres in a 10-1 win on Saturday night at Petco Park.
“Winning is definitely more fun than losing, that’s for sure,” Kelly said. “It feels good. Obviously, this season has not been one we set out to play, but anytime we can end a streak like that, it obviously helps, not only for myself, but the morale and the camaraderie for the team, for sure.”
Eduardo Escobar had four hits, including a home run; Christian Walker homered and doubled; and three other players had multi-hit games as the Diamondbacks scored in six different innings in the win.
“The innings were built,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We had guys on all day long.”
Not all the news was good for the Diamondbacks: Center fielder Ketel Marte reinjured his left hamstring and is expected to undergo an MRI exam in the coming days.
Marte ripped a ball into the right-field corner in the first inning but pulled up on his way around first base. He was removed from the game moments later, walking off with a trainer by his side.
It was Marte’s first game action since Tuesday night, when he doubled in his first and only at-bat and exited after limping into second base. The Diamondbacks believed the injury was minor enough in nature that they did not send him for an MRI exam.
The Diamondbacks had not won on the road since April 25, a span of 62 days. The 24 games were the longest in modern baseball history — that is, the longest since 1900.
After throwing well against the Brewers on Monday night, Kelly was just as good on Saturday. He has been the club’s only reliable starter this season, both in terms of his ability to take the ball every five days on a staff decimated by injury and in being able to pitch deep into games, something with which his rotation mates have struggled.
“You’re always looking for that stopper, that guy that’s in the rotation that’s going to go out and execute the plan and it’s landed on Merrill a couple of times,” Lovullo said. “We’re not surprised. He did basically the same thing at home. He stopped that losing streak.”
The Diamondbacks’ offense had a relentlessness to it on Saturday. Escobar gave them a lead with an RBI double in the first inning. Walker made it 2-0 with a solo shot in the second. Escobar’s tworun shot in the third made it 4-0. They scored again in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings.
“It was a long time to not win on the road,” Escobar said. “Today we did it and I feel really good. I’m so happy. Kelly did a great job again.”
With their record losing skids are over, the Diamondbacks are hopeful they can finally move past a funk that has lasted more than seven weeks. They are 7-43 over a 50-game stretch that began on May 4. Going from atrocious to merely bad would mark a major step forward.
“We won our first road game in a couple months — it’s hard to even think about and it’s hard to say,” Lovullo said. “But I’ve heard several people talking about it already. So it’s a burden we’ve been walking around with and it feels real nice to get rid of that.”