The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks will turn to rookie right-hander Ryne Nelson as they attempt to snap a four-game losing streak when they face the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Nelson (6-5, 4.84 ERA) has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his past seven starts. In Arizona’s 4-3, 11-inning victory at San Francisco on Monday — the last time the Diamondbacks won a game — Nelson allowed two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He will be facing Minnesota for the first time.
Arizona dropped the opener of the three-game series at Minnesota 3-2 on Friday to fall to a major-league-worst 7-20 since July 2 and 5-15 since the All-Star break.
The Diamondbacks have scored just 17 runs over their past eight games while getting shut out twice.
They appeared to be in position to rally and take the lead in the ninth inning against Twins closer Jhoan Duran on Friday when Jake McCarthy walked with one out and advanced to third on a pinch-hit single by Alek Thomas. However, Geraldo Perdomo then popped up a safety-squeeze bunt back to Duran, who subsequently ended the game with a controversial 3-2 strikeout of Ketel Marte on a pitch that appeared to be well outside the box.
“I got five or six text messages that it was a ball on the ball tracker,” a dejected Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.
Perdomo popped out on an up-and-in 99 mph fastball.
“It’s a play we talked about,” Lovullo said. “We’ve practiced it. He’s very good at bunting. The ball has just got to be down on the ground. You’re playing certain odds that the ball is going to be down and you have a lot of speed at third base. If the ball is down, we score a run and it’s a tie game. The ball just beat him. There’s a lot of velocity there.”
Three of the Diamondbacks’ four setbacks during the current losing streak have been by one run, and the other was by two runs.
“We like the tight games,” Lovullo said. “We feel like when we’re doing things right and playing our game, we can execute and win games. We’re just not getting it done right now.”
All three Minnesota runs in the Friday win came on solo homers by Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and Michael A. Taylor. Taylor’s opposite-field blast off reliever Scott McGough leading off the seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie and proved to be the game-winner.
“With two strikes, I was just looking to protect, get something up in the zone,” Taylor said, according to the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press.
Minnesota’s bullpen of Dylan Floro, Caleb Thielbar, Emilio Pagan and Duran combined to blank the Diamondbacks on just three hits over the final four innings.
“Our bullpen has withstood a lot of tests,” Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler said. “A lot of really close games. Great seeing them come out and put up zeros.”
Tingler handled postgame press conference duties in place of Rocco Baldelli, who managed the game but left afterward to be with his wife who is expecting twins.
Right-hander Kenta Maeda (2-6, 4.53), who is 6-5 with a 4.14 ERA in 18 career games, 15 starts, against Arizona, will get the ball for Minnesota on Saturday.
Prior to the contest, 2009 American League MVP and three-time AL batting champion Joe Mauer will be enshrined into the Twins Hall of Fame during a ceremony on the field.
–Field Level Media
