His head in his hands, Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel sat in the dugout in stunned disbelief. He sat there after coming off the mound from his worst outing in years. He sat there after Shohei Ohtani flung his bat and raised his arms skyward, then trotted around the bases.

And he sat there after the Diamondbacks had lost, 14-11, and after everyone else had headed down the tunnel and toward the clubhouse.

His dejected pose seemed to embody the Diamondbacks’ night on Friday, May 9. They were three outs away from what would have been a rousing victory, probably their best of the year. They had rallied from a five-run deficit and positioned themselves to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second time in as many nights. They couldn’t finish the job.

“I felt like we should have won that game,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We did enough to win that game. I don’t want to sugarcoat it. I’m frustrated enough because we had everything lined up the way that we wanted and we didn’t win the game. And we got outexecuted. That bothers me.”

Ohtani’s three-run blast capped a six-run rally in the top of the ninth as the Dodgers went from lifeless to incendiary in what felt like the blink of an eye. As he sat there in the dugout, Ginkel, who started the ninth and could not protected a three-run lead, contemplated how quickly the inning spiraled.

“It just felt like it happened so fast, really,” Ginkel said. “It was base hit here, base hit there. I got pulled and I was like, man, it was a matter of minutes, it felt like.”

Ketel Marte homered twice, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. connected for a game-tying grand slam and Eugenio Suarez and Randal Grichuk also went deep for the Diamondbacks. A day after Gabriel Moreno also connected for a grand slam, it felt like the Diamondbacks’ most modest producers had finally begun to find their stride – and like their offense was whole, and dangerous, again.

Only problem was, the Dodgers’ hitters were better. They torched Diamondbacks lefty Eduardo Rodriguez for eight runs in 2 2/3 innings, and after snoozing for the next five innings, they awoke with a vengeance in the ninth.

In between, the Diamondbacks offense shined. They did it with both powerful swings and grinding at-bats – and the gravity of their would-be victory made it feel like they might finally be on the verge of going on a run and putting the .500 mark behind them. Instead, they were left trying to find the bright spots in a devastating loss.

“We were able to produce well against a very good team,” Gurriel said, speaking through translator Alex Arpiza. “We’ll take that as a positive.”

Another positive: the performance of Diamondbacks right-hander Cristian Mena, who fired 3 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings to buy his offense time to claw back.

Trailing 11-8, the Dodgers opened the ninth with four consecutive hits off Ginkel to tie the game. Three batters later, Thompson was on the mound with two on, one out and Ohtani at the plate.

Ahead 1-2, he went to his splitter, but the pitch drifted over the plate. Ohtani clobbered it, the ball leaving his bat at 113 mph. The blast delighted perhaps half of the sellout crowd of 49,122, sending the blue-clad Dodgers fans behind the visitors’ dugout into a frenzy.

“We shouldn’t have thrown a splitter to Ohtani,” Lovullo said. “It’s a third-best pitch for (Thompson). We’ve got to be better.”

Thompson did not disagree.

“The pitch popped out of my hand,” he said. “(Lovullo) has every right to say that. If I could go back, I would change it (the pitch selection), too. In the moment, I was convicted in throwing it and that’s the pitch you’ve got to throw.”

The Diamondbacks are six weeks into their season and they already have lost two games in which they scored 11 runs. In club history, they have scored 11 runs or more 237 times. They have won 234 of those games. They also lost another game last month in which one of their players, Suarez, blasted four home runs.

The Diamondbacks had expected pitching and defense to anchor their club. It has instead dragged it down, seemingly unable to overcome injuries to top relievers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but I’m devastated,” Thompson said. “I’m embarrassed by the way I pitched tonight. That was a game we should have won. I think we had multiple times as an offense where we picked up our pitching staff and those are the games where — we have to win those games.

“We did some incredible things tonight and it’s a loss in the standings. And that sucks. That sucks to have a big part in that.”

—Nick Piecoro

Diamondbacks’ Marte digs new uniforms

Second baseman Ketel Marte is excited to wear the Diamondbacks’ new City Connect jerseys. He says purple and teal are his colors — and he has the car to prove it.

“I have a Lamborghini that’s purple and inside it’s teal,” Marte said. “That’s my color.”

Marte, who said he has cleats and protective guards to go with the new uniforms, is feeling good after his breakout game the night before, in which he connected for his first homer of the season following a month-long stint on the injured list.

“Honestly, I slept good last night after my first homer,” he said. “I had been looking for it. Now, I feel like it’s time to go. And I always like to play against the Dodgers. It’s so fun. They have a lot of superstars on that team and they have a lot of good players. And we compete. You guys saw in 2023 in the playoffs. I really love playing against the Dodgers. I have a lot of fun.”

Prior to that, Marte had gone just 2 for his first 16 since coming off the injured list.

“I know I can hit; I’m a good hitter,” he said. “But sometimes you lose your timing. I was in rehab for a month. I did good out there, but it’s not the same. This is the big leagues. … I’ve got to continue to watch my video, continue to work hard and I guarantee you guys I’m going to be OK. I’m going to be good.”

Saturday, May 10: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Corbin Burnes (1-1, 3.58) vs. Dodgers RHP Dustin May (1-2, 4.36).

Sunday, May 11: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-4, 4.37) vs. Dodgers RHP Ben Casparius (4-0, 2.81).

Monday, May 12: At San Francisco, 6:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09) vs. Giants RHP Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.50).