Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley faced eight batters in the seventh inning on Friday night, and save for a couple of brief stretches, he could not command his fastball. Looking back on it later, he said it was “just a mess” trying to put the ball where he wanted it.
Meanwhile, manager Torey Lovullo looked on from the dugout, believing – hoping – that with every pitch Bradley was getting closer to his normal, dominant self. Instead, he was just getting closer to a brutal outcome.
In what turned out to be the worst relief outing of his career, Bradley served up six runs in an 11-10 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the final four scoring on Raimel Tapia’s go-ahead, pinch-hit grand slam.