Torey Lovullo shares a message with the team before the final four games

PHOENIX — A lot of frustration has built up over the Arizona Diamondbacks’ final three days of baseball through Wednesday, capped by an 11-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday that left their likely playoff berth up in the balance.

After the game, coach Torey Lovullo said he had attacked his team a little, and on Wednesday he clarified his message even further.

“It’s OK to feel the way you feel, it’s OK to think the way you think, but I’m betting on you,” Lovullo said. “I’m coming here and betting on you because I love you and I care about you, but we’ve got to figure out some (expletive) and we’ve got to do it now, we’ve got no time to waste. I expect you to do your best and make a focused effort, and I promise you, I’ll give you my part.”

“We know he cares about us. We have such a great staff that takes care of us in so many ways. He just reiterated how much we care about each other and that he has the confidence to get it done,” Corbin Carroll described.

Lovullo said he’s been part of many of these conversations throughout his career, ranging from a captain yelling and whining at himself to a much-needed message the room needed to take in. He’s seen toasters fly around and tables that had entire tables set up tipped over.

Despite blowing an 8-0 lead and losing to San Francisco, the Diamondbacks are still in the lead and can make the playoffs with four games remaining. Arizona began Wednesday in the third NL wild card spot, half a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves.

“I just wanted them to know where we were and I wanted us to have a solid footing because we’re doing OK,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to get through this. I could have been critical. I could have gone at them. I was already in that range. It’s ugly. But I decided not to because nobody needed to get blown to pieces. I didn’t need to start pinpointing and targeting people with four days to go.”

The Diamondbacks have four games left and manager Torey Lovullo gave his overall message to the club after yesterday’s loss. pic.twitter.com/baqYUZYiGO

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) 26 September 2024

First pitch Wednesday between the Diamondbacks and Giants is at 6:40 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.

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