Torey Lovullo Says D-backs Are 'Having Trouble' With Texas Infield

The Arizona Diamondbacks ran into some infield problems in the middle portion of their 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.

Arizona's infield defense, which has generally been sharp organizationally despite some recent fluctuations, was one of the determining factors in a blowup fifth inning.

It began with a poor fielder's choice decision by Ildemaro Vargas, but culminated with a particularly jarring misplay by Geraldo Perdomo.

Rangers infielder Ezequiel Duran hit a relatively slow 84 MPH ground ball to Perdomo. It was not the easiest play of Perdomo's career, and Duran may have been safe regardless, but despite an opportunity to collect the final out of the inning, Perdomo slipped on the edge of the infield while ranging to his left and lost control of the ball. It was ruled a base hit.

Everyone was safe, starter Zac Gallen was knocked out of the game, and reliever Ryan Thompson would give up two more frustrating ground ball hits, and two more runs in the process.

Manager Torey Lovullo, speaking to D-backs.TV's Jody Jackson postgame, said the the Diamondbacks have been having issues with the Globe Life Field infield. Here's what Lovullo had to say:

Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo on infield issues

"[Perdomo] slipped in the middle of the diamond. We're having trouble with this infield, especially the very back edge of the infield," Lovullo said. "It's been causing some problems for all of our infielders."

Lovullo did not specify exactly what characteristics caused issues for Arizona's infielders, and he did ultimately say that the D-backs needed to execute those plays better, but it did appear as if Arizona's infield contingent were a bit off-balance, particularly on Perdomo's pseudo-error.

"I think there was a little bit of a handsy play at first base with the infield in, we've got to collect an out there. When you start to give teams five outs, six outs in an inning, it's bound to cause problems."

Lovullo's tone did not imply excuse-making, but it was clear the D-backs were struggling in the infield department Tuesday night. Without question, it was another poor outing from Zac Gallen, and an overall lack of production from the offense until the very last frame contributed much more of an influence on the ultimate loss than the infield conditions.

"Zac made some mistakes and put some runners on, and then we failed to make a couple of plays behind him," Lovullo said. "That's why it's a beautiful game. It's a team sport. And that's where you've got to just kind of settle in and say that we're going to get this done as a team, and we didn't do that today."

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow