PHOENIX — With his Arizona Diamondbacks mired in an early-season funk, manager Torey Lovullo knows where to go for advice on how to get things turned around.

His mother, 92-year-old Grace Lovullo.

“She said throw out the analytics and trust your gut,” Lovullo said, grinning. “I said ’Yeah, I like that. I’ve been a gut manager my whole life.'”

A season of sky-high expectations is off to a slow start for the D-backs, who have lost seven of eight heading into Friday night's game against the Washington Nationals. The skid has dropped Arizona to 27-29 despite the highest projected payroll in team history.

The stretch of bad baseball has flummoxed Lovullo, the ninth-year skipper who is the franchise's career wins leader and led the team to the World Series less than two years ago.

“I'm lo

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