PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks spent the season watching one player after another go down with injury. They were sellers at the trade deadline, and calls for manager Torey Lovullo’s job have been ringing for months.

But one of the defining characteristics of the Diamondbacks under Lovullo has been their resiliency. They showed it during a World Series run two years ago, at the end of last season’s near miss, and it’s been on display again this month.

“We had every right to feel sorry for ourselves,” Lovullo said after Arizona’s 9-2 win over Philadelphia on Sunday. “We had every right to say, you know, why us? Let’s chalk it up to a learning experience and go here next year — but that clubhouse did not allow that to happen.”

The Diamondbacks had every reason to pack it in as injuries decimated their pitching staff and key position players went down. They kept plugging along through it all, steadily climbing their way up the standings with new players filling the holes left by the injuries and trades.

Arizona has the NL’s third-best record since Aug. 1 at 28-19 to go from also-ran to playoff contender. Sunday’s win over the Phillies was the Diamondbacks’ sixth in eight games, moving them within a game of Cincinnati and the New York Mets for the final National League wild-card spot heading into the final week of the regular season.

Arizona opens a three-game home series against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday and closes the season with three games at San Diego.

“We just focus on ourselves,” rookie outfielder Jorge Barrosa said after hitting his first big league homer against the Phillies.

The run to get here has been painful.

Arizona lost starting pitchers Corbin Burnes, Jordan Montgomery and Tommy Henry to season-ending elbow injuries by June. A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez, Blake Walston and Christian Montes de Oca also are done for the season.

Catcher Gabriel Moreno, outfielder Corbin Carroll and infielder Ildemaro Vargas were among the position players to miss time.

Several games under .500, the Diamondbacks became sellers at the trade deadline in late July, sending away pitchers Merrill Kelly and Shelby Miller, third baseman Eugenio Suarez, first baseman Josh Naylor and outfielder Randal Grichuk.

Typically, a sell-off of that magnitude signals a white flag.

The new-look Diamondbacks did anything but give in, even after All-Star outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went down with a torn ACL and first baseman Tyler Locklear sustained what could be a season-ending elbow injury.

Right-hander Zac Gallen has been superb down the stretch after the Diamondbacks decided to keep him, going 6-2 since Aug. 2. Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.34 ERA) has been steady, as has Brandon Pfaadt (13-8, 5.02).

Ketel Marte has continued to play at an All-Star level, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo has been arguably the team’s MVP and Carroll became the first 30-30 player in Diamondbacks history with 31 homers and 30 steals.

“It wasn’t pretty for a long time here, whether it was injuries, style of play or lack of play” Lovullo said. “But they continue to hustle, continue to believe and focus at the right time.”

The perseverance has put Arizona on the cusp of a playoff berth, something that seemed nearly impossible two months ago.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb