June was not kind to Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly.
He will aim to get off to a better start in July when he takes the mound on Saturday evening in the second game of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix.
Kelly (5-8, 5.84 ERA) lost all five of his starts last month while posting a 7.31 ERA. Those results were in stark contrast to May, when he went 4-1 in with a 3.49 ERA.
“I’m starting to run out of words for how bad I’ve been this year,” he said. “Just keep pounding the pavement, keep going back to the drawing board, and keep working with the coaches, and trust that we’re going to figure something out to turn it around.”
The offense hasn’t helped much in the games Kelly pitched in June, combining for just four runs in his five starts.
Kelly most recently gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings of a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. Arizona bounced back to win its next two games following that loss but still hasn’t won more than two in a row since a five-game winning streak May 23-27.
The Diamondbacks lost the series opener against the Brewers on Friday night, 7-4 in 11 innings.
“Obviously, we’re not playing up to our ability,” Kelly said. “Normally, I feel like I’ve prided myself on being the one who can stop a slide or get us moving in the right direction, and this year, I have not been able to do that.”
The Diamondbacks sent Kelly to the Texas Rangers at last season’s trade deadline and then re-signed him to a two-year, $40 million free-agent deal in the offseason.
Kelly said he feels he still has much to prove.
“I know we’ve still got half the season left, but as a whole on the year, definitely the most frustrating, the poorest results. [The] poorest I’ve felt, definitely, and the least I feel like I’m doing my job,” Kelly said. “The numbers are what they are, but not doing what the team needs me to do, what the team counts on me to do every fifth day.”
Kelly has had success against the Brewers in his career, going 5-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 11 starts. He lost to them on April 28 after surrendering five runs and six hits over five innings in a 13-2 defeat in Milwaukee.
The Brewers plan to start veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff on Saturday.
Woodruff (2-1, 2.59 ERA) has been nearly flawless in his first two outings since missing nearly two months because of right shoulder inflammation.
In his first game back, the two-time All-Star blanked the Cincinnati Reds on one hit over six innings in his team’s 2-1 win in 10 innings on June 22. Woodruff followed that effort with a nearly identical outing, allowing just one hit over 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs last Sunday.
He again was denied a win because the game went into extra innings, where the Brewers lost 4-3 in 10.
Woodruff has 16 strikeouts and just two walks in his past two games. He said he’s looking forward to taking the baton for a team that’s won four of its past five games and nine of 12.
“The pitching staff, we’ve got some big-time arms,” Woodruff said. “We’ve played some good baseball. We’ve got to keep steady, keep staying positive and be consistent.”
Woodruff has made nine appearances against Arizona in his career, including eight starts, and is 3-1 with a 4.65 ERA.
–Field Level Media
