The Arizona Diamondbacks aim to build on a successful homestand on Tuesday night when they visit the Toronto Blue Jays to open their nine-game road trip.
Only an 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday prevented the Diamondbacks from sweeping their six-game homestand.
“I’m not going to let that distract from the success that we’ve been having over the past week playing baseball games,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It tells me things are moving in a very, very good direction.”
The Diamondbacks have shown an ability to bounce back, even within a game. They scored five ninth-inning runs on Saturday to pull out an 8-7 victory over the Padres. It was the third time this season that the Diamondbacks had overcome a ninth-inning deficit of four or more runs to win.
The Blue Jays, who are coming home for six straight games after a 5-4 trip, were moving in a positive direction before the just-completed weekend. They won 12 of 14 before absorbing a three-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies, including an 11-4 loss on Sunday.
“You don’t want to get the feeling of losing a series,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “But the guys know well enough that this little stretch can happen. It happens quickly and they’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”
The Blue Jays will try to get back on the right track on Tuesday behind scheduled starter Chris Bassitt (7-3, 3.70 ERA). The right-hander has not lost to the Diamondbacks in five career starts, going 4-0, with a 3.07 ERA.
The Diamondbacks are scheduled to start right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (8-4, 5.50), who has not faced the Blue Jays in his career.
In an attempt to add pitching depth, the Diamondbacks signed right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and optioned right-hander Bryce Jarvis to Triple-A Reno.
DeSclafani did not take long to see action, allowing three hits and two runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief on Sunday.
Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo jammed his left wrist while making a diving play on Sunday but said his right middle finger, which he injured last week, was more concerning. He has been told that it could continue to be sore for a while, “but they’re not concerned.”
The Blue Jays entered the Philadelphia series after a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, scoring a total of 20 runs.
They were held to six runs over three games by the Phillies.
Hot-hitting Alejandro Kirk had singles in his first two at-bats for Toronto on Friday, then went 0-for-10 for the rest of the series.
“Their starting pitching kind of just shut us down,” Schneider said. “They are pretty good and that set the tone.”
Blue Jays right fielder Will Robertson, promoted from Triple-A Buffalo, made his major league debut on Sunday and had an RBI single on a drive to the right-field wall in the seventh inning.
Toronto left fielder Alan Roden was able to continue on Sunday after crashing head-first into the wall to make a spectacular catch in the fifth inning on a drive by Nick Castellanos. He hit the wall so hard his eye black was smeared on the wall and there was blood on his mouth.
“Which gave us a little bit of a laugh after he said that he was OK,” Schneider said. “He hit his knee a little bit, too. But he’s played great in the outfield and that’s a hell of a catch.”
–Field Level Media
