The Arizona Diamondbacks have played their last game before the trade deadline, and they looked like a team just trying to get there.
The Diamondbacks were blasted this week against the Detroit Tigers, suffering a 7-2 loss to cap a series sweep on Wednesday. The Tigers outscored the Diamondbacks 24-5 over these three games. The D-backs have lost five games in a row and eight of their last nine.
Arizona (51-58) has scored six runs in its last six games, and its 32 hits over a six-game stretch is a franchise low since 2022. Geraldo Perdomo drove in the two D-backs runs on Wednesday with a single and a home run. Tigers starter Chris Paddock threw six innings with one earned run.
The D-backs have also surrendered 30 runs over the last four games, playing more poor defense in a lack of support for the pitching staff. Ryne Nelson threw 5.1 innings with one earned run on Wednesday, but three unearned runs scored off him after a two-error play from Perdomo. The D-backs have allowed 46 unearned runs this season, which is tied for second in the National League with San Francisco.
Wednesday’s game was tied 1-1 going into the fifth inning before the Tigers scored six runs in two frames to break the game open.
A bright spot was that Eugenio Suarez returned to the starting lineup after a hit-by-pitch to the right hand kept him out of Tuesday’s game. Suarez recorded a couple hard-hit outs throughout the game before roping a double in the ninth inning for what could have been his final Diamondbacks at-bat.
Suarez, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are the most popular Diamondbacks in trade rumors since they will be free agents at the end of the year. Suarez has been tied to Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia and the Chicago Cubs, while the Cincinnati Reds were in the mix but traded for Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks made a statement to stand by out of the All-Star break with a dominant series sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals, who were directly ahead of Arizona in the Wild Card race. The D-backs were only four games back of a postseason spot, showing a ferocity in that series.
They have not come close to that level of performance since, letting a winnable series slip away against the Houston Astros, which may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for this version of the team. Arizona traded Josh Naylor and Randal Grichuk in the days that followed.
When the Diamondbacks take the field again on Friday at the Athletics in Sacramento, they will have entered a new phase of their season. The trade rumors will be over, the roster less talented. Getting younger players valuable reps will be a theme down the stretch, along with how much fight the remaining group can show.
The trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. MST, and the D-backs return to action on Friday at 7:10 p.m. MST in Sacramento.
