During their pregame meeting to go over the scouting report on the opposing team’s hitters, the Arizona D-backs pitching coach Matt Herges, looked at the starting pitcher Merrill kelly.
“That”, of course, didn’t need to be explained, because all the players in that clubhouse knew what “That” was: a 17-game losing streak that broke the soul and that lasted for 20 long days and many nights:
Kelly came out and backed up his words, pitching seven outstanding innings as the D-backs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, Monday night at Chase Field.
They certainly didn’t do it on Monday night. When the ball fell into center fielder Ketel Marte’s glove for the final out of the game, manager Torey Lovullo shared a hug with his coaches and stood in the corner of the dugout and waited until the last person in the bullpen came over to congratulate him. they.
Music blared through the clubhouse and players stayed longer than usual to revel in the sensation.
Kelly called it a team effort, but both catcher Stephen Vogt and Lovullo pointed to Kelly as the key. The right-hander allowed one run in the first inning, but that was it, as he held Milwaukee to just three hits before retiring after seven innings. It was the first time an Arizona pitcher completed seven innings since Kelly did so on May 20 in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The D-backs were hoping Sunday afternoon’s six-run rally in the eighth inning that resulted in a 9-8 loss to the Dodgers would give the offense some momentum. If it did, it waited until the second entry to register.
The D-backs’ first seven hitters reached base in the second, and during that stretch, Brewers starter Brett Anderson was forced to leave the game due to a sore right knee. The D-backs finished with three runs in that inning, adding another two in the fourth to bolster their lead.
Suddenly a team that had been stuck playing from behind so many times during their losing streak found themselves in pole position. And as the entries progressed, the anticipation grew.
It may interest you: MLB: Defeat 22 in a row on the D-backs road trip and tie record.
No one was in a rush to stop the celebration Monday night, but on Tuesday, the D-backs have another game to play, and they have to face one of the league’s best pitchers, Freddy Peralta, who was five outs from a no-hitter when he faced the D-backs on June 4 in Milwaukee.
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