CHICAGO (AP) - The Arizona Diamondbacks said hello to an old friend on Tuesday.
Reliever David Hernandez rejoined the team after he was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander played for the Diamondbacks for four seasons before he signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in December 2015.
“I was here for five years, so you kind of feel like a family,” Hernandez said before Arizona’s 16-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs. “You’ve seen guys come up and stick and there’s always that kind of family you create away from your family.”
Infielder Adam Rosales also joined the Diamondbacks after he was acquired in a trade with Oakland on Monday. The 34-year-old Rosales is from suburban Chicago and planned to stay with his parents for the series against the Cubs.
Arizona, which is a half-game back of Colorado for the top spot in the NL wild-card standings, was in desperate need of some help at shortstop after it placed Ketel Marte on the bereavement list. Chris Owings broke a finger on a bunt attempt against St. Louis on Sunday, and Nick Ahmed has been on the disabled list since June 28 with a small fracture in his right hand.
Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic on Sunday night. Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall, general manager Mike Hazen and two more executives represented the team at her funeral on Tuesday.
“It’s a very sad moment for all of us,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “It caught us all by surprise. We’re just behind him and supporting him.”
Rosales, who has played all over the field during his 10-year career, hit .234 with four homers and 27 RBIs in 71 games with the Athletics this year. He started at shortstop against the Cubs and went 2 for 5 with two RBIs.
“The intangibles are he plays with an incredible amount of energy and focus,” Lovullo said. “He goes out there and plays really, really good defense. He’s had success against left-handed pitching. The whole package is very exciting to me.”
The 32-year-old Hernandez went 1-0 with a career-low 2.23 ERA in 38 appearances with the Angels. He is 29-39 with a 3.97 ERA in 417 career games, making his major league debut in 2009 with Baltimore.
“We’ve got to fill in a couple of innings in the sixth and the seventh,” Lovullo said. “We know that he’s having a great year and we know that he has the ability to get left-handers hitters out. We’re going to use him in the best opportunities for him to go and get outs.”
The Diamondbacks also recalled infielder Jack Reinheimer from Triple-A Reno and optioned right-hander Silvino Bracho to their top farm club before the opener against the Cubs. Reinheimer made his major league debut in the fourth and struck out as a pinch hitter.
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AP freelance writer John Jackson contributed to this report.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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