PHOENIX — When Arizona manager A.J. Hinch recently ordered extra fielding practice before games, he stressed that it was “maintenance,” not punishment.
Maybe it’s time for punishment.

Even with the extra work, the only thing the Diamondbacks have maintained is their knack for kicking and throwing the ball all over the field. Arizona entered Monday, a day off, with 71 errors, most in the major leagues.
The Diamondbacks’ woes afield were revealed again in an ugly 12-8 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Chase Field. Arizona committed four errors, including three in the fifth inning to match a franchise record.
“We imploded,” Hinch said.
The errors led to six unearned runs as the AL West-leading Angels cashed in on Arizona’s incompetence.
In a five-run fifth, Arizona first baseman Mark Reynolds dropped a throw, right fielder Justin Upton dropped a line drive and second baseman Felipe Lopez let a grounder go through his legs as the Chase Field crowd of 25,684 erupted into boos.
“I don’t have a lot of explanations for how that stuff happens at this level,” Hinch said.
Sunday’s blunders were a frustratingly familiar refrain for the NL West cellar-dwellers, who are on pace for 95 losses. It seems as if the Diamondbacks can’t catch a break — or anything else.
“Over this last two or three weeks in particular, we’ve had an inning or two where seemingly the wheels have fallen off the bus,” first baseman Tony Clark said.
In Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Los Angeles, the Angels’ first run came on a play typically seen on Little League diamonds. Pitcher Doug Davis fielded Erick Aybar’s bunt but had to double-clutch the throw while waiting for Lopez to cover first. Davis fired the ball behind Lopez and into foul territory behind first base.
Upton fielded the ball and then overthrew Reynolds at third base, and Aybar came around to score as the ball rolled into foul territory behind third.
“So much happened on that play it is hard to pick on one thing or another. It was just a horrible baseball play,” Hinch said.
On June 21 at Seattle, the Mariners completed a three-game sweep when first baseman Clark dropped a routine two-out throw with the score tied in the ninth, allowing the winning run to score.
The mistakes have left the Diamondbacks grasping for answers. They reject suggestions that players have given up as a team that expected to contend has nose-dived in the standings.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort,” Clark said. “You hang around the game long enough, unfortunately, you’re going to end up seeing some things you haven’t seen before.”
This much seems certain: the Diamondbacks have paid a price for not re-signing second baseman Orlando Hudson, who won two of his three Gold Gloves with Arizona.
The Diamondbacks replaced Hudson with Lopez, who has committed nine errors in 69 games — a pace that would give him 19 errors this season. Hudson has four errors in 76 games for the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hudson was a strong clubhouse presence as well as a gifted fielder. On Sunday, Lopez and Upton both declined to speak to reporters after the game.
Augie Ojeda, who also had an error on Sunday, was one of the few players in the clubhouse when reporters were allowed in. Ojeda urged his teammates to “take some pride.”
“We just have to go out there and do it for ourselves,” Ojeda said. “We’re professionals. We get paid a lot of money. We have to go out there and produce.”
Lopez and Upton aren’t the only Diamondbacks who have struggled defensively. Reynolds, the team’s leading home run hitter, has proved to be as dangerous in the field as he is at the plate.
Injuries have forced Hinch to move Reynolds between third and first base, and Reynolds seems uncomfortable in both, with eight errors at third base and five at first base. A year ago, Reynolds had a team-high 35 errors, all but one at third base.
Hinch said he senses that players have been pressing, and that they try to atone for a mistake and end up compounding it. He hopes his team will relax when it opens a six-game road trip at Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
“I think the mistakes start to pile up on us at times,” Hinch said. “But regardless of what the source is, at this level, those mistakes get exposed. They can cause you to lose, and we’re finding those ways too often.”