Montgomery implodes as Diamondbacks reach halfway point with ugly loss to Twins

Jordan Montgomery kept his anger inside for a few seconds, bottled up beneath a mix of disappointment and frustration. He turned to face his manager, Torey Lovullo, who was walking out to the mound to end the latest miserable start in a miserable season. He walked off, his head down, like it has been so often this summer.

And then he let loose.

Inside the Diamondbacks’ dugout, Montgomery ripped off his glove and fired it full speed at the back wall. Needing another outlet, he found his pitch com and hurled that against the same wall four times. After pacing up and down the dugout twice with his hands perched on his hips, he returned to the same spot, picked up the remnants of his earlier frustration and chucked one more handful into the wall. Only then did he sit down, rest his elbows on his knees and allow everything to settle in.

In this latest chapter of his worst major league season, Montgomery allowed eight runs on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings. Officially, only four of them were earned, but it didn’t matter. The Diamondbacks lost, 13-6, and their $25 million signing was again at the center of it, watching his ERA rise to 6.03.

“This,” Montgomery said, “has definitely been the hardest year of my career.”

Montgomery’s outing didn’t end until midway through a two-run third inning, after his first and only walk. The day, though, unraveled in an inning that epitomized the Diamondbacks’ season. Fittingly, it punctuated their first half — a landmark that the Diamondbacks crossed with a 39-42 record.

With the game still scoreless, Montgomery opened the inning allowing a pair of well-struck singles to Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton.

Over his past three appearances, he had found his longest period of sustained success as a Diamondback, pitching to a 2.70 ERA and going 3-0. But neither Montgomery nor the Diamondbacks rotation (with its 4.82 ERA) has been able to make success last this season.

On Thursday, he said that his pitches felt as good as they did in those three previous starts, expressing frustration with some bounces against him. “I feel like every ball found a hole,” Montgomery said. “Could've been 60 mph, could've been 100.”

Still, he did allow nine balls hit over 95 mph, while recording just eight outs. And it started with those two hits to open the second inning.

After that is when things got ugly.

With two runners on and no outs, Ketel Marte fielded a routine groundball but hesitated, thinking about a double play, and allowed Willi Castro to reach. Three batters later, Carlos Correa reached on a catchers’ interference, his bat colliding with Jose Herrera’s glove on a full-count swing.

Those two mistakes on their own might not be common — Marte has been an excellent defender this season — but they’re indicative of a season in which seemingly everything has gone wrong.

Then, with two runs already across in the inning, Royce Lewis hit a bouncer to Kevin Newman at third base. This was Newman’s first start at the position, as the Diamondbacks continue to search for any solution there. Eugenio Suarez, their off-season fix, has been an offensive disaster. Blaze Alexander hasn’t secured the job. So Lovullo turned to Newman, desperate for something to work.

Instead, on just his second opportunity of the game, Newman fielded Lewis’ grounder and immediately sailed his throw into right field, far over the head of Marte at second. The rout was on.

“I thought there were some learning moments for (Newman),” Lovullo said. “... The ball got away from him going to second base.”

The inning ended three batters later, after six runs had come across. It paved the way to 13 runs on the afternoon for the Twins, but the game was essentially over already. The Diamondbacks are 1-37 when they fall behind by multiple runs this season.

They are not the "Answer-backs" of a year ago. They are not the impressive pitching outfit that rolled through the postseason. They are not the team that could seemingly get everything to inexplicably go its way.

At the halfway point, they are a team still searching for solutions.

Diamondbacks give Kevin Newman first look at third base

The Arizona Diamondbacks might be at the halfway point of their season, but they are no closer to finding a solution at third base than they were on Opening Day.

Eugenio Suarez has been terrible offensively. Blaze Alexander has settled down defensively after a rough start to his rookie year, but he’s now mired in an offensive slump. Jordan Lawlar, their top prospect, is now injured for a second time in Triple-A.

So on Thursday, manager Torey Lovullo turned to Kevin Newman at the hot corner for the first time. Newman is having his best season since 2019 at the plate, hitting .285/.318/.394. He’s also played solid defense at shortstop, and he made 18 starts at third base for the Reds last season, so he’s familiar with the position.

“It's been on my mind,” Lovullo said. “... I think it was just natural for me to see what Newman looked like over there.”

Lovullo did not commit to Newman getting regular opportunities at third.

“I want to see what it looks like first,” he said.

He did, though, acknowledge that the timing is related to Alek Thomas’ looming return from injury. Thomas could be back with the Diamondbacks early next week, which would create a roster logjam. Alexander figures to be the most likely player to make way, given that he has minor-league options, while Suarez and Newman would have to be designated for assignment.

That said, Alexander has provided valuable innings at third base recently, enabling the Diamondbacks to lessen Suarez’s workload.

“I've got to look at a lot of options so we can make the best decision moving forward,” Lovullo said.

Friday’s Diamondbacks-Athletics pitching matchup

Athletics at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Slade Cecconi (2-6, 5.74) vs. Athletics LHP JP Sears (4-7, 5.04).

At Chase Field: Cecconi started against the Phillies last weekend but was allowed to go only three innings, in which he gave up one run on five hits and no walks, striking out two. The Diamondbacks let him face only 14 batters. … In his previous start, he fired six scoreless innings against the Nationals, giving up just three hits. … Opponents have hit .328 with a .578 slugging off Cecconi’s fastball this year. He has fared much better with his slider (.209 average), change-up (.184) and curveball (.182). … Sears, acquired from the New York Yankees in August 2022 as part of the RHP Frankie Montas trade, is coming off back-to-back bad starts against the Minnesota Twins, who scored four runs off him in 4 1/3 innings on June 16, then eight runs off him in 1 1/3 innings on June 22. … he has logged only five quality starts through 16 outings. … Sears, who has never faced the Diamondbacks, averages 92.2 mph with his four-seam fastball and also throws a sweeper, change-up, sinker and slider.

Coming up

Saturday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (5-4, 3.12) vs. Athletics LHP Hogan Harris (1-1, 2.72).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-6, 4.45) vs. Athletics RHP Luis Medina (1-3, 5.25).

Monday: Off.

Tuesday: At Dodger Stadium, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (5-6, 5.69) vs. Dodgers RHP Bobby Miller (1-1, 6.75).

What to know about the Oakland Athletics

A year ago, the Athletics looked like they might rank among the worst teams of all time, reaching the season’s midway point with just 21 wins in 81 games. They wound up losing 112 games, the second most in franchise history. This year, the A’s are merely a bad team rather than a horrendous one. They have the third-worst ERA (4.40) in the American League and are averaging the second-fewest runs (3.57) per game in the league. DH Brent Rooker, who has been one of the better hitters in the AL, has a .261/.339/.506 line with 14 homers. 1B Tyler Soderstrom has swung the bat well the past few weeks, hitting .269 with five homers in his past 20 games. The A’s rotation has been a mess, ranking last in the AL with a 5.08 ERA. RHPs Ross Stripling and Paul Blackburn and LHP Alex Wood are on the injured list. Oakland’s bullpen has been strong, ranking fourth in the league with a 3.49 ERA. RHP Mason Miller has been dominant, striking out 62 in 35 2/3 innings with a 2.02 ERA.