Arizona Diamondbacks fall to Brewers as wild-card position becomes a little shaky

Over a 10-day span, the Arizona Diamondbacks will play the Milwaukee Brewers seven times. If this stretch doesn’t make or break their season, it could at least define their positioning for the postseason.

The first of the seven went to the Brewers on Friday night, a taut, 2-1 game that hinged on one swing of the bat, Rhys Hoskins’ two-run homer off Diamondbacks lefty Eduardo Rodriguez in the fourth inning.

At the same time, right-hander Freddy Peralta and a collection of relievers combined to shut down the Diamondbacks’ powerful offense, holding them to just six hits overall, including none in four at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

The loss had a chance to cost the Diamondbacks a game in the standings to every team that matters in the tight, National League wild-card race. The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets won earlier in the evening, and if the San Diego Padres hold on against the Giants in San Francisco, the Diamondbacks would fall a half-game back of the Padres for the top wild-card spot and be left with just a one-game lead for a wild-card spot of any kind.

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the first but scored only once off Peralta, getting a sacrifice fly from Pavin Smith to bring home Corbin Carroll, who had walked to open the inning.

They had other chances against Peralta but failed to capitalize. In the third, Christian Walker tried to advance from second to third on a pitch that eluded catcher William Contreras, but Contreras gathered it, fired to third and cut down Walker by a half-step.

In the fourth, the Diamondbacks had runners on first and second and two outs, but a towering fly ball by Smith died just shy of the warning track in center field for the third out.

Interestingly, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo brought in right-hander Justin Martinez — who has handled closer’s duties in recent weeks — to pitch the eighth inning, then went to lefty A.J. Puk for the ninth. Whether it was merely a case of matchups or an indication that Lovullo was thinking about using Puk differently remains to be seen.

The Diamondbacks managed just one baserunner in four innings against the Brewers’ bullpen, a one-out walk in the eighth by Walker, who quickly was erased on a Smith double-play ball.

Rhys Hoskins’ homer puts Brewers in front

Rhys Hoskins connected for a two-run shot off lefty Eduardo Rodriguez in the fourth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks trail, 2-1, after five innings on Friday night.

The Diamondbacks had been clinging to a 1-0 lead when Rodriguez began to allow a slew of hard contact in the fourth. Gary Sanchez started the inning with a single, but Rodriguez got Willy Adames and Blake Perkins to fly out on sharply hit balls to the outfield.

Hoskins then blasted a 2-2 fastball just inside the foul pole in left field for his 24th home run of the year.

The Brewers threatened again in the fifth but ran themselves out of the inning when, with runners on first and second, Garrett Mitchell got caught off first base on a back-pick from catcher Jose Herrera. Rodriguez wound up escaping the inning without allowing a run.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, on 103 pitches, has allowed six hits, walked four and struck out five through five innings.

Eduardo Rodriguez making early lead stand vs. Brewers

The Diamondbacks scored a first-inning run and lefty Eduardo Rodriguez has turned in three scoreless innings on Friday night at Chase Field. The Diamondbacks lead the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0, after three innings in the opener of a three-game series.

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the first inning off Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta but managed to come away with only one run.

Corbin Carroll, who walked to open the inning, scored on Pavin Smith’s sac fly to center field.

Jake McCarthy was up with two out and runners on second and third but struck out to end the inning. Rodriguez got into some trouble of his own in the first but came away unscathed. Jackson Chourio led off the game by rifling a Rodriguez fastball into left-center for a double.

But Rodriguez retired three of the next four batters he faced, working around a one-out walk to William Contreras, to escape the inning.

Gabriel Moreno, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ‘very close’ to return from IL

Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are trending toward returns from the injured list next week, with Moreno likely to make it back before Gurriel, according to manager Torey Lovullo.

Both will play on Saturday in a so-called "continuation camp" game, which will feature primarily young minor league players, many of whom were drafted this year.

Moreno, who is returning from an upper left leg injury he suffered in Cleveland last month, is scheduled to catch five innings. Lovullo said Moreno could go directly from that to catching nine innings in a major league game.

“He could do that, in my opinion,” Lovullo said.

Moreno went through catching and blocking drills on Thursday and reported feeling fine a day later, Lovullo said.

Gurriel seems to be a bit behind as he recovers from a left calf strain.

“If I had to choose between one or the other, I would say Gabi first, then Lourdes,” Lovullo said. “It’s coming. They’re getting very close and both feeling very good.”

For years, Lovullo has pushed his players to go on rehab assignments, but he said the organization’s ability to simulate game action has forced him to reconsider his thinking. One factor is the high-tech Trajekt Arc pitching machine that simulates at-bats against real pitchers.

“With some of the training methods that we have — the great facility over at Salt River Fields with the hitting lab — I’m kind of changing my mind on that," he said. "We can simulate as much as we possibly need to here or there at Salt River to prepare these guys.”

Lovullo: Merrill Kelly ‘feels good,’ on target for next start

Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly, who exited his start on Wednesday with cramping in his right hamstring, is expected to make his next start, though the club is considering giving him an extra day of rest, Lovullo said.

“He’s fine,” Lovullo said. “He feels good.”

Kelly could pitch as early as Monday in Colorado, which would keep him on his usual four days’ rest. Lovullo intimated that if Kelly continues to feel good as he does his between-starts work, he would take the ball as scheduled but if he indicates he could use an extra day the club has the flexibility to flip his start day with right-hander Ryne Nelson.

Lovullo said the club tweaked its rotation over the past 48 hours as a way to set it up for the rest of the season and into October, though he was hesitant to say much about it other than acknowledging the postseason was a consideration.

“Pretty much, yeah,” he said, when asked if the club has determined who it would like to start in a postseason series. “We’ve got it mapped out as far as we can go. I don’t even want to talk about it. That’s all in play and considered when we are talking through some of the rotation switches that we made.”

With right-hander Zac Gallen set to pitch on Sunday with Kelly and Nelson behind him, that would seem to indicate those three are the club’s preferred pitchers in the wild-card round.

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Yilber Diaz set for relief role; Slade Cecconi optioned

The Diamondbacks called up right-hander Yilber Diaz from Triple-A Reno and optioned right-hander Slade Cecconi.

Lovullo sounded excited to see how Diaz, who made four starts for the Diamondbacks in July, would look in a bullpen role.

“I think the stuff might spike up a little bit,” Lovullo said. “That’d be my thought. It happens with every reliever, where they’re a starter and transition to a reliever. They don’t have to save energy. They’re going to go out there and let it eat from the first pitch on.”

Diaz made a pair of relief appearances with Reno over the past two weeks in order to prepare him for this opportunity. That said, he has yet to pitch on back-to-back days, which Lovullo suggested was an important checkpoint in order to show he is a viable bullpen option.

“We’ve got to find a way to get him into that environment and see what he can do,” Lovullo said. “We’re excited about his potential, but he’s got to go out and execute and he’s got to give us some good moments and we’ll keep building on that.”

Diaz has a mid-to-upper 90s fastball along with a pair of breaking balls. He has long been viewed as a future reliever by scouts, though he has pitched well enough this year in the rotation, both in the minors and majors, to likely give himself more opportunities to start next season.

Saturday’s Diamondbacks-Brewers pitching matchup

Brewers at Diamondbacks, 5:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (9-8, 4.42) vs. Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (7-5, 2.93).

At Chase Field: Pfaadt gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Astros last weekend in Houston, the fourth consecutive time he failed to get through six innings, a stretch in which he has a 7.52 ERA. Prior to that, he had logged at least six innings in 16 of his previous 19 starts. … Pfaadt has not faced the Brewers since starting against them in Game 1 of the wild-card round last season, when he gave up three runs in 2 2/3 innings. … Myers, perhaps the biggest surprise starter in baseball this year, is coming off one of his better starts of the year, a six-inning, 11-strikeout game against the Rockies in which he gave up just one run. … Since June 7, Myers has a 2.22 ERA in 16 starts since June 7. … Myers averages 92.9 mph with his fastball. He also throws a cutter, slider, change-up and curveball.

Coming up

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (12-6, 3.55) vs. Brewers LHP DL Hall (1-1, 4.01).

Monday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.26) vs. Rockies TBA.

Tuesday: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.33) vs. Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-10, 4.89).

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks fall to Brewers as wild-card position becomes a little shaky