Padres Rout the Diamondbacks 7-1 in Series Opener

Slade Cecconi came into tonight with a stellar 2.25 ERA through two starts. He left the game with that number more than doubled to 4.96 as the D-backs lost to the Padres 7-1. The loss dropped the Diamondbacks record to 14-19 and suddenly their season seems to be spiraling out of control.

It all started out so promising, as the big right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced. Cecconi's fastball velocity topped out at an eye popping 98.5 MPH and he averaged 96.6 in the first inning. While that number gradually began to drop over the next two innings, he was working fast, getting ahead, and inducing weak contact.

By the time Cecconi got back to the top of the order his velocity had begun to drop to about 92-93 and his command was slipping. Jurickson Profar worked an eight pitch walk. Then on the second pitch to Fernando Tatis Jr., Cecconi put a 92 MPH fastball right in the middle plate. 419 feet later the Padres had a 2-0 lead. A hung changeup to Jake Cronenworth followed and that pitch was knocked over the wall in right for back to back homers.

Not done yet, the Padres lineup continued to take advantage of Cecconi's waning stuff and suddenly poor control. Manny Machado walked, and later scored on a Jackson Merrill single for the fourth run of the fourth inning. Cecconi would give up two more hits in the fifth and both came around to score.

Cecconi was relieved by Matt Bowman who was making his Diamondbacks debut. Arriving just a few hours before the game after a trade with the Twins, Bowman was thrown right into the middle of a Padres rally. It was an inauspicious beginning, as he gave up a two-run bomb to Machado running the Padres tally up to 7-0.

That closed out Cecconi's line with six runs allowed on five hits, two walks, four strikeouts and two homers allowed. By the time it was all over, Cecconi's fastball had dipped as low as 91.4 and his average was right at where it was when he entered the start at 94.6. Most disappointing was the new changeup Cecconi had introduced this season was hardly used. He threw just seven of them, perhaps scared off the pitch after the Cronenworth homer.

Dylan Cease continued his strong season for the Padres by holding the D-backs lineup in check, allowing just one run on three hits through 6.2 innings of work. Eugenio Suarez drove in Joc Pederson with a single for the lone run. Cease didn't walk a batter and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 2.55 and improving his record to 4-2.

The D-backs are 2-6 in their last eight games and have been scoured 42-15. They've hit just .186 over that span. Earlier in the year they were losing close games with poor hitting and pitching in late and close situations. Lately they've just been getting blown out. Adding to their woes, they are just 1-10 in series openers, and the only win came on opening day against the Rockies.

While it may still feel like the season is young, the D-backs are in the midst of digging a hole from which they may not be able to climb out of. Only two teams in the National League have a worse record, the 9-25 Marlins and the 8-24 Rockies. The ability to get on a run is made more difficult due to a slew of injuries. But all teams have injuries. They're just not playing good baseball.