Diamondbacks Bullpen Meltdown Strikes Again in Loss to Rockies

A scene all too familiar to Diamondbacks fans unfolded in the eighth inning Saturday night. A 7-4 lead not only evaporated, but was flipped to a 10-7 deficit thanks to a six-run Rockies outburst against the D-backs bullpen. That became the final score in just one more gut wrenching loss is a season full of them.

Another Bullpen Meltdown Sinks the Diamondbacks

This time Andrew Hoffmann and Andrew Saalfrank were the reliever culprits. Hoffmann gave up a one out double, two walks, and a two-run double. He was pulled for Saalfrank who gave up a sinking line drive base hit to left that scored two more, giving the Rockies the lead.

One out later, Tyler Freeman crush an 89 MPH sinker over the middle of the plate 434 feet to left, putting an exclamation point on the bullpen meltdown.

Also melting away were probably any hopes of the D-backs climbing back into the Wild Card race. With their second straight loss to the lowly Rockies, their record now stands at 60-64. The Mets won, meaning Arizona fell back to 5.5 games out of the third Wild Card spot.

Torey Lovullo didn't sugar coat his feelings after the loss. "We haven't had a blow up like that in the bullpen in a long time. And this is tough to absorb, you know, this stinks. Look at the end of the day. We got a pitch and catch, you know, throw strikes make plays and we didn't at the most critical time today."

Ryne Nelson's Solid Start Wasted

Ryne Nelson didn't register a quality start, but considering the venue, he did well to limit the Rockies to four runs in 6.1 innings. He allowed eight hits, struck out four, and didn't walk a batter. Overall his pitching line did not reflect how well he pitched.

Learning from his last outing Nelson lowered his fastball percentage to 45%, mixing in his slider and cutter 28% and 22% of the time respectively. That resulted in a season high 33% whiff rate and four strikeouts. Only seven of the 23 balls put in play were hard hit balls (over 95 MPH).

A solo homer by Warming Bernabel in the second inning and back-to-back two-out doubles in the third scored the Rockies' first two runs. But Nelson retired 10 of the next 11 batters, getting to one out in the sixth inning.

A base hit and a triple chased him from the game, and an RBI ground out after Kyle Backhus came in resulted in the final run charged to Nelson. The D-backs had a 7-4 lead at that point.

Top of the Order Productive, Bottom Half Silent

The D-backs put up seven runs on nine hits. Adrian Del Castillo had an RBI double in the fifth inning and a two-run homer in the seventh. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in three runs with two singles and an RBI ground out.

The top five in the order reached base 10 times and were responsible for chasing Chase Dollander from the game in fifth inning.

But for the second straight night, the bottom of the order was completely silent. They combined to go 1-for-16 with seven strikeouts. In Friday's game the bottom four went 1-for-14 with six strikeouts.

The Series finale is Sunday, with Nabil Crismatt expected to be added to the roster for the start. It's likely to be pitch count limited effort, with Jake Woodford coming in behind for some bulk long relief. The Rockies are expected to go with righty Antonio Senzatela.

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