Arizona understands that the odds of catching one of three teams sitting in National League wild-card positions are long, but the Diamondbacks aren’t giving up hope.
Their 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night kept the season alive, and the Diamondbacks will continue their drive for the playoffs in the second contest of a three-game series in Denver on Wednesday night.
Arizona will send Merrill Kelly (9-14, 5.00 ERA) to the mound against Colorado rookie Mason Adams (0-1, 5.09) in a battle of right-handers.
The Diamondbacks (83-74) know how the situation can flip in the final week of the regular season. Two years ago they lost what looked like a safe lead and missed the playoffs.
The Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres all stand 87-70 with five games to play, four games ahead of the Diamondbacks. It is possible that Arizona could bump off one of those teams if the D-backs put together a winning streak and one of the opponents falters.
The Diamondbacks will end the season with three games in San Diego this weekend.
“The teams that are ahead of us are playing good baseball. One in particular (the Padres) have been on a heater, so you know, anything is possible,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “Anything’s possible. We had a three-game lead with seven games to go in 2024, and we went home at the end of the year. So until we have an ‘E’ next to our name, I’m going to fight. This team’s going to fight.”
Arizona will need a strong outing from Kelly to extend its winning streak to four games. Wednesday night will be his 20th career start against Colorado, and he is 10-4 with a 3.39 ERA in those outings.
The Rockies (57-100) joined four other teams in losing 100 or more games in four consecutive seasons and are the first to do it since the 1962-65 New York Mets.
Colorado lost 103, 101 and 119 games in the seasons leading up to this year.
“I see a lot of hope, and I see a lot of progress,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “This is obviously not where we want to be. You have to focus on the positives moving forward; we all want to work hard to get there. We have a group of position players who are hungry to win and have shown signs of improvement.”
Despite the ignominious mark, the Rockies have not given up.
“The boys want to win every night, and that hasn’t changed all year,” Schaeffer said. “I think the opposite of being the spoiler is giving up, right? Our guys absolutely do not give up. I think you saw that all year, and every game matters, and every game still matters. In the last game of the season against the (Chicago) White Sox, the game will matter to these guys.”
The Rockies will close with three games in Chicago this weekend.
Adams, who will face Arizona for the first time in his young career, can help prevent reaching 101 losses and earn his first career victory. He made his major league debut Aug. 25 at Washington and had a 3.38 ERA through his first four starts before giving up six runs to San Diego in a 9-3 loss in his most recent outing last Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
