When the Diamondbacks made their first visit to South Florida beginning May 20, they had the best record in the National League.
One game into their second series at Florida, the D-backs are back at .500 for the first time since the fourth game of the season. They have suffered through a 12-24 spiral. "We're playing like dog crap out there," third baseman Mark Reynolds said. "Right now, we got to make things happen. We've got to swing the bats better. We got off to a good start tonight and then we just shut it down."
The D-backs scored in the first inning Friday, but it was their only run in a 3-1 loss, a setback strikingly similar to their three earlier losses at Dolphin Stadium.
Florida won 3-2, 3-1 and 4-0 in sweeping a series May 20-22, when the D-backs had 18 hits and were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.
The D-backs had six hits Friday while losing to right-hander Ricky Nolasco for the second time this season. Nolasco, who beat right-hander Brandon Webb to end Webb's nine-game winning streak May 21, struck out nine in eight innings, giving him 16 in 15 innings against Arizona this season.
The D-backs are playing an extra series against Florida this season -- nine games instead of the normal six against a non-division foe -- to make up for the lack of a natural rival in interleague play.
MARLINS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1: The D-backs got three hits and a run in the first inning, then got only three hits the rest of the way. Micah Owings left seven pitches into the fifth inning after suffering a right leg injury while covering first base on a groundball in the fourth. 2B Orlando Hudson singled and hit a sacrifice fly but later was removed in a double switch after fouling a ball off his lower right leg.
