D-backs' Hernandez still has hurdles after Tommy John surgery

PHOENIX -- The mental battle Diamondbacks reliever Daniel Hudson faced before settling into his relieving role felt very real for Arizona reliever David Hernandez on Tuesday night.

Arizona went into the 10th inning tied 3-3, and it was on Hernandez -- in his eighth game back in the majors since Tommy John surgery -- to stifle the heart of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup.

Instead, Hernandez allowed three runs in the deciding frame. Howie Kendrick took the second pitch from Hernandez over the fence. After Adrian Gonzalez walked and Yasiel Puig singled, Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run double to left field, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead in their eventual 6-4 victory.

The reality for Hernandez, like it might've been for Hudson and will be for Patrick Corbin very soon, is that confidence is hard to come by early after returning from Tommy John.

"You just grow accustomed to pitching and feeling fine, like nothing happened," Hernandez said. "I know it's going to take time. But up here, there's no time.

"It's just a matter of trying to force it and force feeling good, as far as command and mechanics and being able to repeat it," he added. "Just didn't have it."

Fans can expect to see Corbin, the former All-Star, face similar issues when he makes his first start next week against the Texas Rangers.

But perhaps finding a promising bit of what he and Hernandez can look forward to sits a few lockers over.

Hudson was letting it go on Tuesday. The former starter and new set-up man, who underwent two Tommy John surgeries, worked a clean, 12-pitch eighth inning. He struck out Yasiel Puig in the top of the eighth with a fastball that clocked at 99 mph. He finished the inning by getting Grandal with a 98-mph pitch.

It might take a while for Hernandez to reach that point in the recovery process, but he hasn't been the only reliever to struggle.

Over the last two weeks, the D-backs' bullpen ERA sits at a less-than-ideal 4.03, while it has struck out opponents at the second-lowest rate in MLB. The bullpen's 5.92 strikeouts per nine innings is well below the major-league leading Toronto Blue Jays' 11.92 strikeouts per nine.

"We're just not locating pitches where we want to," manager Chip Hale said. "The other things are lead-off walks. It's not going to work out very well in the big leagues."

Nick Ahmed's run of success with the bat continued when he hit a home run for the second night of the row. Hale liked that the bomb was to right-center because the shortstop had been working on not pulling the ball.

* Arizona starter Rubby De La Rosa left the mound with a 3-2 lead through 5 2/3 innings, but for the first time since June 8 against the Dodgers, he gave up a home run. This one was to Grandal, who homered on a hanging fastball, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead and breaking De La Rosa's streak of three games without allowing a home run. Hale believed De La Rosa's emotions have gotten the best of him at times this year, but he took another step forward on Tuesday. De La Rosa didn't have the most efficient evening, hitting 97 pitches, but mostly appeared in control despite often facing adversity. "They were all over him; every inning they were in scoring position, they were getting the lead-off guy on," Hale said. "I think he did a great job of handling it. He kept us in the game, gave us a chance to win it. I was very happy the way he pitched."

* Brad Ziegler closed out the ninth inning with eight pitches, adding more credence to his success in an unfamiliar role. Hale summed up his season nicely prior to the game. "Do I think he's comfortable being closer? Yeah, I think he's comfortable," the manager said. "He's a really smart individual and he realizes, maybe in a championship situation, maybe his role would be more in the eighth inning, but he might be proving himself wrong here the way he's pitching."

* The D-backs, in general, didn't have it on this night. Arizona added a run via a Paul Goldschmidt RBI double in the bottom of the 10th, but Yasmany Tomas struck out looking on a questionable strike call on a pitch down and away. The Diamondbacks also whiffed on the base-paths. Tomas and Welington Castillo were each cut down trying to take second base on deep hits, and Cliff Pennington was picked off at first. "It's hard to give three outs to a team like that," Hale said.

Senator John McCain nearly caught a foul ball hit by the Dodgers' Jimmy Rollins, and it opened the door for a zinger of a joke from the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett.

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