NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 21, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Chase Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 1

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Torey.

Q. Tough loss, obviously.

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah.

Q. What's the message -- because it's not going to be easy going back there. They have this amazing record, best in MLB history, the fan base, yada, yada. What's the message to keep the guys fighting?

TOREY LOVULLO: First of all, we're very respectful of where we're going and the team that we're playing. But once again, we have to put it on us, on our dugout, our clubhouse and just go and do the things that we do best. We made some mistakes today, and we didn't capitalize in some key situations, and that was the difference in the game.

We know what's ahead of us. We know either way we were going back to Philly, and we were going to have to win baseball games there. But I don't want to think about Game 7 because anything can happen in a Game 7 setting.

We have to go out and play our best game in Game 6. We have a very tough pitcher that we're going to be facing, but once again, I'm going to put it on our group. I believe in Merrill Kelly. I believe in Merrill Kelly, I believe in the guys to go out there and execute and play at a higher level and make plays and do things right.

Q. Take us through the first inning, the double steal. I know you practiced that a lot. You just expected Marte to be able to make that throw?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, for sure. We work on that a lot. I think if we just play pitch and catch and he drives the throw into home plate and gives Gabi a chance to catch that ball and lay the tag down on Harper, he is out by 8, 10 feet.

You're trying to collect an out right there and get off the field right there, down 1-0. He just short-hopped the catcher, and that type of stuff happens from time to time.

The play didn't surprise us. We were anticipating it. It was well-timed by our guys. We just didn't finish the play.

Q. Given the cue shot to start that inning, a couple of throws that probably could have been better, do you need your ace in Zac to be better, or are you looking at this more of a product of not scoring runs for him?

TOREY LOVULLO: Probably a little combination of both. I think Zac had good stuff that first inning. With that infield base hit, it wasn't what we were at all expecting.

Ask then once he got down a couple of runs -- I thought he got into a nice rhythm in innings two through six. He did give us a chance to get grounded and get into that neutral corner and come back out and score some runs.

We had a chance to score a run in the bottom of the first inning. I think the game may have taken a different tone had we done that at 2-1, but we didn't. And we have to improve in a couple of different areas in a couple of different ways to be able score that run.

But I thought Zac threw the ball well enough. He just made some mistakes in the last inning of work, and that score went from 2-0 to 4-0 real quick, and that's what can happen when you do make some mistakes.

Q. You guys reached base ten times, but only produced one run. What did you see as the difference in the low run total despite that?

TOREY LOVULLO: I think once again, Wheeler threw the ball well. He walks off the mound after seven, and he had given up one run. So I think he got really stubborn, and we started to get into a little bit of a chase mindset.

There were some fastball sliders on the upper half of the plate to left-handed batters and two-seamers to right-handed batters that I feel like we didn't eliminate. We could have been a little more patient and put more pressure on him. There were some key at-bats and some key moments where if we slugged, it's a totally different outcome. But he made pitches and kept us in check.

Q. Very unlike you guys to have the amount of swing and misses, right?

TOREY LOVULLO: I think there were some swing and miss, but that's a product of Wheeler's stuff. He is very aggressive with his stuff.

Look, it was a night where he went seven. Zac went six. It was no mystery. The bullpens were both very, very tired. But I feel like enough was done on that front. Had we had a chance to score some runs, we would have been in this ball game.

Q. You talked about that first inning. Gabi gets the single. Was this a bad read by Corbin, or do you expect him to go back to second because that ball was just a little bit to his right.

TOREY LOVULLO: Good point. Usually you're trained when the ball is hit to your left, you can advance freely. The ball was hit to his right, and he was retreating back to the bag. But there's two parts to that. We'll get a chance to talk to Corbin about it.

You have to know where your infielders are placed. If the infielder is going to have to move as far left as Turner was going to, you just have to know where that placement is.

I can't fault him in that situation. He ended up getting to third base, which is very critical, but I think when you are talking about elite base running and elite instincts, Corbin is in that category, a guy that can maybe make a better read if he knew where that shortstop was. We worked on that all day long in Spring Training. Pick up your outfielders.

You talk about it in Little League. Not you, but everybody talks about it in Little League. It's just what you have to do, and I think he just lost sight of where that shortstop was.

Q. Any thoughts about Tommy Pham for Pavin Smith?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah. I'll probably sit down and make some adjustments in some way. I just wanted Tommy to get off his feet and get a blow. And I know that he did not want to sit today. He wants to be in the middle of everything. He has a champion mentality.

I know that it wasn't a very popular decision for him to not play today, but he'll be back in there soon enough.

Q. Torey, do you think Zac at 232 innings is about maxed out at this point?

TOREY LOVULLO: I don't think so. I've had discussions with him around this area, and he understands that it's been a full season's worth of work. It means he's been healthy. He's taken care of his body, and he's been getting the baseball every fifth day.

You look at some of the great pitchers in this game. They elevate their game to a different level at this time of the year. I just feel like Zac is very close to being able to do that. He just made a couple of mistakes.

Do I feel like he is fatigued? I don't think so. He will never tell me he is. He wants the baseball. In fact, he wanted to go back out there for the seventh inning. He did not want to come out of this game. And I told him you did your job. It's time to turn over the bullpen.