D-backs' Torey Lovullo Addresses Curious Ninth-Inning Decision

On Tuesday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks faced loaded bases with no outs, staring down a 3-1 deficit against the Houston Astros at home in the bottom of the ninth inning.

No runs scored, and the Diamondbacks were defeated .

The root cause of Tuesday's loss could be traced to multiple culprits a poor bullpen outing, failure to execute offensively, or even a debatable call by the umpires.

But one particular moment came under scrutiny in manager Torey Lovullo's postgame press conference: third base coach Shaun Larkin's decision to hold Josh Naylor at third base.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo Addresses Ninth-Inning Decision After back-to-back singles opened the frame, Naylor stood at second base, with the speedy Jake McCarthy behind him at first.

Geraldo Perdomo then lined a third single.

But instead of waving Naylor home, third base coach Shaun Larkin threw up a late stop sign.

Naylor scrambled back to third, and McCarthy's speed was the only reason he got back to second safely.

An argument could be made that Larkin should have sent Naylor, allowing McCarthy to reach third and possibly changing the complexion of the inning.

Lovullo addressed the situation postgame.

"I don't know what the play looks like.

I'm seeing it right in front of me in real time.

And we've got to go station-to-station there," said Lovullo.

"The bottom line is, you can't make an out there on the bases." "I didn't feel like it was, in my opinion, a time to take a chance, but I'll take a look at it.

And maybe if you ask me about it tomorrow, I might have a different opinion," Lovullo said.

The manager said that, even with a one-run lead, a similar outcome likely would have played out.

"Coaching third base is a very hard, challenging task.

The ball gets thrown around the diamond extremely fast.

So I know [Larkin]'s doing all that he can," he said.

There's understandable frustration that can stem from moments like that in baseball.

Regardless, Blaze Alexander struck out, and Jose Herrera grounded into a game-ending double play.

Perhaps a different decision by Larkin in that moment may have led to a different outcome.

But ultimately, the players were unable to execute with no outs and loaded bases.

"We're fighting for our lives out there," Lovullo said.

"[The Astros] turned a terrific double play.

They're a pitching and defensive type of team, especially right now with a lot of their key players out." The Diamondbacks have now lost back-to-back games after coming out of the break hot with a sweep of the Cardinals.

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