PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks have won seven of their last 10, their best stretch of the season, and it is not hard to pinpoint the reason.
"It all goes with our starting pitching," D-backs manager Chip Hale said after another quality outing Sunday, when Jeremy Hellickson pretty much dominated San Diego in a 7-2 victory.
"When our starting pitching gives us a chance to win, I think we are a very, very good team. It allows our bullpen to get rested. Our hitters feel better about things. They don't feel like they are always coming back. Those guys have really been doing a great job of keeping us in the game early. You saw the games we weren't. We struggled. I think that's where it all starts."
The other parts of the D-backs' game have been there most of the year. Driven by Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock and now Yasmany Tomas, the D-backs are second in National League in runs, second in stolen bases and fifth total bases. Goldschmidt is leading the majors with a .3563 batting average, is tied for second with 57 RBI and is tied for fifth with 19 homers.
The D-backs have the fourth fewest errors and by one defensive metric have saved 25 runs more than the average team, as computed by baseball-reference.com. Pollock and Ender Inciarte are ranked 1-2 in runs saved among NL outfielders, and Nick Ahmed is second among shortstops.
New closer Brad Ziegler and Daniel Hudson have solidified the back end of the bullpen, and Ziegler has converted all 10 save opportunities since taking over May 21.
So when the starting pitchers pitch well ...
The D-backs have received seven quality starts in the last 10 games, and only only starter has given up more than three earned runs. The composite ERA is 2.54. The starters have the same number of strikeouts (46) as hits given up in that stretch while walking only 20. That is a WHIP of 1.04.
Chase Anderson started it when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 1-0 victory over San Francisco on June 12, broken up when Giants catcher Buster Posey hit a hard single off Anderson's right leg that caromed toward the third-base line.
Anderson, Rubby De La Rosa and Hellickson have made two quality starts apiece in that stretch, including two of De La Rosa's best games with the D-backs. He went eight-plus scoreless innings against San Francisco on June 14 and gave up only one earned run in seven-plus innings against San Diego on Friday, when the D-backs handed Padres' right-hander James Shields his first loss of the season.
Anderson, Allen Webster and De La Rosa are scheduled to start the three games of a series in Colorado that begins Tuesday, after the D-backs' second day off in 23 days. The D-backs are beginning a stretch of 13 games before their next off day on July 6.
After taking the series over San Diego with Hellickson's victory Sunday, the D-backs (34-35) will get a 10th opportunity to reach .500 for the first time since they were 8-8 on April 21. They came up empty three times last week, and Hale said the D-backs have no one to blame but themselves.
"I guess what it comes down to, we have to be good enough to be .500, and we haven't been able to do it," Hale said. "We have to be better. We have to be a better team. That's just my honest opinion. I think about it a lot now because I am asked that question on a daily basis.
"I think we're going to get there, and we are going to go past it, but we have to be better."
With Inciarte's absence due to a right hamstring injury the last week, the D-backs have had limited opportunities to rest their outfielders. They were able to spend some extra time at home, however. Unlike on most trips, the D-backs did not leave after Sunday's game but were able to spend that night and most of Monday at home before leaving for Denver late Monday afternoon.
"We need it," Hale said of the day off. "There are some guys who have been playing a lot. Losing Inciarte kind of hurts our rotation in the outfield. A.J. (Pollock) has been playing a whole lot, and it is going to be hard to take him out in Denver with that big outfield, so it's good for him to get a nice day to breathe."
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