PHOENIX -- The frustration had been building. Sloppy play early in the season had led Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to have some restless nights as he contemplated his team hovering around the .500 mark when, with sharper play, they could have been much better.
In a wild seventh inning Tuesday night, all the frustration came pouring out of Lovullo during a heated argument with umpire Laz Diaz, resulting in his ejection.
One day later, Lovullo’s team unleashed some frustration of its own, scoring five runs in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory and a series win over the Orioles.\n\n“For those that have had those moments and have sat in my seat, the frustration builds when you don't win games,” Lovullo said. “I've been explaining to you that I've had a certain degree of frustration and anxiety that I've been carrying around me. You get a chance to have some success, or you offload something and come out the next day, and you feel really good about it. I'm not proud of that type of an interaction, but they're needed. And yeah, I feel good. I slept really good last night.”\n\nA number of Arizona's hitters will sleep well Wednesday night, as
“It kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Smith said of the two losses in Washington to end the D-backs' recent road trip. “And \\[the homestand\\] didn't start well on Monday, but then turned it around these last two days. Our pitching yesterday really locked it down after that first inning and carried it over to today.”
Indeed,
“I felt good,” Pfaadt said. “Felt like I was commanding pitches. I hit a weird spot there with the two walks in a row, but \\[catcher Jose Herrera\\] got me back on track, and we were able to just keep attacking and keep control of the game.”\n\nSmith, who is getting his first extended look at playing time as the left-handed part of the designated hitter platoon, hit just .231 on the road trip, but in the two wins against the Orioles, he was 4-for-7 with two doubles and a homer.
“I think honestly, on that road trip, I didn't feel great, striking out a bunch,” Smith said. “But found ways to get some hits while I kind of worked on things and worked on my load to be able to see the ball a little bit better, and it kind of clicked these last two days.”
The Diamondbacks have Thursday off before hosting the Brewers for three games, and after the way the final two games went, everyone should be sleeping well at night. That includes outfielder