Arizona Diamondbacks: Learning to separate from playoff contenders

Winning four of their last five games over the Mets and Giants demonstrates the urgency of the Arizona Diamondbacks to beat teams they need to defeat.

With five weeks remaining between a date with the post-season or a date at a favorite golf course, there are several issues facing the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Actually, one, clear issue specifically tends to overshadow all others in Arizona’s quest to gain admission into the exclusive club of post-season teams.

Coming into play Sunday, the Diamondbacks held a 1.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies for the first wild-card spot in the National League. Overall, they led the Milwaukee Brewers by five, the Miami Marlins by six and the St. Louis Cardinals by 6.5 games.

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Immediately, the Diamondbacks are beating teams they should defeat. In the last week, they took three of four from the New York Mets and defeated the San Francisco Giants Friday night in the opener of a six-game stand. The Mets and Giants have two of the worst records in the majors, and teams on a path to post-season glory need to beat up on struggling and marginal clubs.

That is what Arizona reliever Archie Bradley described to Call to the Pen, and what his team needs to do down the stretch.

“We need to win series,” he said before Saturday’s home game with San Francisco. “That takes care of everything. That’s how you create separation with the other teams.”

The issue of separation now looms large for teams fighting for the two wild card spots. Most pundits give the NL East to the Washington Nationals, the Central to the Chicago Cubs and the West to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over the final weeks, a strict attention to detail could be an important factor which separates teams.

That’s the observation from veteran infielder Adam Rosales, whose stint with the Diamondbacks represents his sixth major league club. For his part, Rosales participated in the 2012 AL Division Series for Oakland against Detroit. Citing the slightest detail can separate clubs, he told Call to the Pen that it’s the club which remains focused is usually the one which is successful.

“You need true awareness on every pitch,” he said in the Diamondbacks clubhouse before Saturday’s game. “This is the time of the season in when it matters the most. This team is known to grind it out, and that what’s it takes in a pennant race.”

That translates into a heightened awareness and the ability to capitalize, as manager Torey Lovullo likes to say, “on the moment.”

That was the approach from starter Taijuan Walker during his start Saturday against the Giants at Chase Field.

Winless since June 21 and winless at home since April 21, Walker picked up only his seventh victory of the season (now, 7-7, 3.55 ERA) by addressing “the moment.” Exhibiting strong fastball command and pounding the strike zone, Walker told Call to the Pen, after a 2-1 victory over Madison Bumgarner and the Giants Saturday, that his effort was dictated by the necessity of stepping forward at a critical time.

“This was about staying aggressive and attacking hitters,” he said. “I didn’t want to fool around, and just wanted to put them away.”

Though he threw 108 pitches for 6 1/3 innings, Walker hit the first-pitch to the first four hitters he faced and walked only one. That was Pablo Sandoval with one out in the seventh. From that hitter, Lovullo went to the bullpen and Andrew Chafin, David Hernandez and Fernando Rodney slammed the door on the Giants.

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Winning a one-run game, and taking two of the first three in this weekend set against the Giants proved to Lovullo that the make-up of his team is geared toward success. After Saturday’s win, that was an assertion he made and addressed the fact that the Diamondbacks, coming into Sunday’s game, have won five of their last six games.

“These close games say something about the team’s ability to focus on themselves,” he said. “They have learned to embrace the moment.”

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