Dbacks ref and news

Carroll went 0-for-3 with a walk and two steals in Monday’s 7-0 loss to the Cubs.

One of the few bright spots from Monday’s shutout was Carroll’s two steals in the fourth inning. Those thefts upped his season total 20, the fourth straight year he’s reached that threshold.

Kelly and the Diamondbacks believe that Cubs third-base coach Quintin Berry was stealing pitches and relaying signs to hitters in Monday’s 7-0 loss, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports. “Stealing signs is as old as baseball, I think it’s a little (expletive) when it comes from the coach,” Kelly said.

Kelly, who feels when players on the field — “inside the lines” — are stealing pitches is fair game, acknolwedged that he needs to review what he’s doing to tip pitches. It may not only be the Cubs that noticed something. Kelly is not fooling anyone this month; the right-hander is 0-4 with a 7.46 ERA and 1.82 WHIP over five August starts (25.1 innings).

Kelly (8-12) took the loss Monday, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks over 5.2 innings against the Cubs. He struck out four.

Kelly fell just short of recording a quality start, departing with two outs in the sixth inning after throwing 99 pitches (60 strikes). The right-hander has now lost three straight games and is 0-4 with a 7.46 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and 17:18 K:BB across 25.1 innings (five starts) in August. The 37-year-old will take an overall 5.35 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 88:60 K:BB across 134.2 innings (24 starts) into his next outing, tentatively scheduled for Saturday against the Giants.