Major League Baseball

Reeling D-backs back home and feeling the heat

Published Jun. 5, 2010 6:41 a.m. ET

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are back home feeling some extreme heat, and it's not the triple-digit temperatures outside.

The Diamondbacks went 0-9 on the worst road trip in franchise history and carried a 10-game losing streak, Arizona's third-longest ever, into Friday night's game against Colorado. The skid ended dramatically when Arizona rallied for two runs in the ninth, a walk-off victory to follow four consecutive walk-off defeats, one on a two-out balk.

Everyone from general manager Josh Byrnes to manager A.J. Hinch and, of course, the players themselves is under criticism from a dwindling fan base.

Their 20-34 start was the second-worst in the Diamondbacks' 13-year history. Only the 17-37 mark in the inaugural 1998 season was worse.

After pitching, primarily in the bullpen, the offense has been the major problem through most of the season. Arizona had not scored a run in an amazing 31 innings entering Friday's game, a franchise-worst by seven innings. A combined 17 shutout innings by Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson went to waste.

``No offense to other teams, but if you look at other teams, like Pittsburgh or Houston, teams that are struggling, they don't have near the amount of talent that we have,'' said Haren, a three-time All-Star, ``so something's wrong and something's got to be done to fix it. I don't know what.''

Hinch is in his first full season. Despite no managerial experience at any level, he was moved from the front office to manager following the firing of Bob Melvin a year ago. Hinch has two years remaining on his contract after this season.

``I'm not going to run from our reality,'' Hinch said before Friday's game. ``This group hasn't responded that well to me. I'm scratching and crawling to find the right solution, but I'm not going to run from any accountability. If the finger gets pointed here directly, I'm supposed to be the rock on this team that stands in the middle of the fire.''

Managing partner Ken Kendrick suggested earlier this week that perhaps its time to give up on keeping together the team's core group, which mostly consists of youngsters who were part of Arizona's surprising run to the NLCS in 2007.

There is a perception that the team lacks the toughness and spirit necessary for success.

``We haven't shown a ton of toughness,'' Hinch said. ``I don't think we've caved this year. I think last year we had a little bit of resignation and it was just a firestorm around our major league club. How do you instill toughness in a guy? We've dealt with things very directly this year. No stone's being unturned, and no mistake has been turning the other cheek.''

Arizona leads the majors with 91 home runs allowed, 22 more than any other team. Its team ERA of 5.65 (entering Friday) also ranks last.

Offensively, some players are having decent seasons. Going into Friday, shortstop Stephen Drew wass hitting .284 and has just three errors. Chris Young, after a disastrous 2009, was hitting .267 but had 39 RBIs. Mark Reynolds had 12 homers and 39 RBIs but had just a .224 average. Justin Upton, with a new $53 million contract, was batting .249 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs and was tied with Reynolds for most strikeouts in the majors at 72.

Matters have been made worse by the absence of former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, who has been slow to respond to shoulder surgery. He recently discovered he needed to change his arm slot during his delivery. He is playing catch but no date has been made for him throwing off the mound.

``He's got to get going. We're approaching midseason,'' Hinch said. ``We need to put the gas pedal down a little bit.''

The Diamondbacks are hoping that a change of scenery does wonders for lefty Dontrelle Willis, picked up in a trade with Detroit this week. The one-time Florida Marlins ace, who has struggled mightily with his control, will start Saturday night against the Rockies.

``His command issues have been documented, they've been talked about and we've looked at it, so we'll see how he attacks the strike zone,'' Hinch said. ``I know he competes and I know he loves the team. Those are two important ingredients to start with. Now if he goes out and performs, maybe he brings a boost of energy that we sorely need.''

Meanwhile, Hinch is trying to keep the team focused on the game at hand.

``Right now everything feels disastrous. Every time we lose it's mounting pressure and it's a big snowball going down a hill,'' Hinch said. ``We need to calm down and see this thing through.''

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