The Diamondbacks began the day with the same record through 130 games as last year’s Detroit Tigers, a club that sold at the trade deadline before authoring an improbable run to the postseason. They also began the day with the same playoff odds as those Tigers, per FanGraphs: 1.4 percent.

Of the many differences between that club and this one, the most obvious reared its ugly head in a 6-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Aug. 24. The Diamondbacks do not have the bullpen of those Tigers, and theirs melted down in a five-run Reds eighth inning.

With a chance to pull a little closer to a wild-card spot, the Diamondbacks instead remain 5 1/2 games back of the New York Mets, who lost in Atlanta earlier in the day. The Diamondbacks are 64-67.

The loss kept them from a series sweep as the Reds remained the only team in the majors who have yet to be swept this season. The afternoon capped a homestand in which the Diamondbacks went 4-2, another good week that followed a bad one in a season filled with peaks and valleys.

Manager Torey Lovullo removed his hat to show his balding head when asked if the ups and downs have affected him.

“You look at me,” Lovullo said. “How do you think it takes its toll on me?”

He added: “I want to get on a run. I’ve been waiting for that eight-of-10, 10-of-12 type of run. We’re playing that type of baseball, where it’s sitting right there. We’ve just got to go out and finish the job.”

That won’t be easy on their upcoming road trip. After four games against the Milwaukee Brewers, who own baseball’s best record, the Diamondbacks will head to Los Angeles for a three-game weekend series against the Dodgers.

“We’ve got to keep it rolling,” right-hander Zac Gallen said. “We’re going to kind of go through the gauntlet here and kind of see what we’re made of. I think everyone in here kind of knows what’s at stake.”

Gallen was terrific across six innings against the Reds, giving up just one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven. He departed with the game tied at 1.

His effort was wasted by an offense that managed just two hits and a bullpen that threatened to cough the game up in the seventh inning before actually doing so in the eighth.

Right-hander Juan Morillo let three of four batters reach base to start the top of the seventh, but he was bailed out when lefty Kyle Backhus elicited a double-play ball from the Reds’ T.J. Friedl to escape the inning.

The Diamondbacks weren’t so fortunate in the eighth, an inning that began with a strange play. The Reds’ Noelvi Marte cued a line drive to shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who leaned to his right before having to dive to his left. The ball glanced off his glove for a single.

“That ball tried to go to left field and then went to the middle,” Perdomo said. “It was almost like a knuckleball.”

Said Lovullo: “(Catcher James) McCann confirmed it: He said he’d never seen a ball like that.”

Entering with one out and a runner on second, right-hander Juan Burgos gave up the tie-breaking single (Austin Hays), another single (Gavin Lux) and a three-run homer (Spencer Steer) to the first three batters he faced. He permitted four runs in all.

Perdomo tripled to lead off the bottom of the first — and scored on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s sacrifice fly — but the Diamondbacks did not collect their next (and final) hit until Corbin Carroll singled to center with two out in the eighth.

Reds right-hander Brady Singer gave up one hit in six innings, walking three and striking out nine, and three relievers covered the final three innings.

Coming up

Aug. 25: At Milwaukee, 4:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-7, 5.40) vs. Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (4-2, 4.19).

Aug. 26: At Milwaukee, 4:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (12-8, 4.95) vs. Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.44).

Aug. 27: At Milwaukee, 4:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (6-3, 3.63) vs. Brewers LHP Jose Quintana (10-4, 3.32).

(This story has been updated to add new information.)