Arizona freefall ongoing

PHOENIX – In a year that began with playoff talk, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been awful.

The Diamondbacks are so bad they got manager Bob Brenly fired before the All-Star break, and may have helped topple their chairman five weeks later.

Jerry Colangelo, ousted Friday and replaced by high-profile agent Jeff Moorad in a coup by four partners, said on-field performance had nothing to do with him agreeing to step down — that it hinged on philosophical differences. But the young players on a mostly young team feel like they let the boss down.

“We don’t think about that, but you can’t help but think, like, when Brenly was let go,” third baseman Chad Tracy said. “In the back of your mind, you’re saying, ‘You know, I had a lot to do with that.’ And it’s tough knowing that.”

Brenly, who led the Diamondbacks to baseball’s pinnacle with a World Series title in 2001, got the ax on July 2.

Before that, the team lost 12 consecutive games. Since then, the Diamondbacks extended the franchise record to 14 straight in a separate skid under Pedrique and posted the first 0-11 homestand in major league history. After Sunday’s 11-4 loss to Atlanta, Arizona has lost four in a row, 23 of its last 27, and sits at another franchise-worst, 43 games under .500.

The Diamondbacks (35-78) are on pace to lose 112 games, and their tailspin has accelerated to .180 ball (9-41) in the last 50 — leaving fans to speculate on their chances of reaching the 1962 expansion New York Mets’ record of 120 losses.