(Photo credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images)

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo summoned the starting rotation to his office on a road trip in Chicago during a recent rough patch.

'It was to remind us that we are really good, and what we are going through now is not who we are,' right-hander Merrill Kelly said.

Maybe the meeting was not required.

'Obviously, Torey's message was good,' Kelly said. 'But at the end of the day, we've been doing this for a long time. We know when we are pitching well. We all knew we weren't doing our job. At the end of the day, we all felt we had to be better.'

The pitchers have improved even if Arizona is just 2-8 since the start of its road series in Chicago against the Cubs. The Diamondbacks have made quality starts in four of their past five outings, including Kelly's 2-1 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday to even their series at one game apiece. They will play the rubber game Sunday in Phoenix.

Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0, 2.50 ERA), who started the five-game run last Tuesday, will be back on the mound Sunday as the Diamondbacks look for their first series win since they took a series from the Toronto Blue Jays April 17-19.

The Mets are expected to use left-hander David Peterson (1-4, 6.29) for the bulk of the game Sunday, likely after an opener. Right-hander Huascar Brazoban (2-0, 1.53) is listed as the starter on MLB.com.

Kelly gave up three hits and one run in seven innings on Saturday, by far his best start of the season after being delayed out of spring training with a back injury. He had given up 19 runs in 13 2/3 innings in his previous three starts.

'You almost felt like the kid who finally passed the test, who's been getting Fs the whole time but finally got an A,' Kelly said.

The Mets continued to scuffle offensively, managing only three hits on Saturday after getting five hits -- two in the first nine innings -- in a 3-1, 10-inning victory in the series opener Friday.

They wasted a strong outing from Clay Holmes, who gave up two runs and five hits while in 5 2/3 innings, tying a season high with six strikeouts.

'I thought he was very good, even though they put together some really good at-bats,' Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. 'They made him work.'

Arizona's Rodriguez threw seven scoreless innings in a 9-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday to start the streak, the best start in his 46 outings with Arizona.

'They're dudes,' Lovullo said of his rotation. 'They're tough. I just created an awareness.'

The Diamondbacks went 13 straight games -- two-plus times through the rotation -- without a starter going as long as six innings before Rodriguez's gem. He gave up two hits, struck out seven and walked three.

Only one Pirates hitter reached third against Rodriguez, who threw a season-high 103 pitches.

Rodriguez delivered his own strong message to Lovullo when the manager made a mound visit with two outs in the last of the seventh Tuesday with Arizona leading 7-0.

'He backed me down and said, 'Give me one last hitter,'' Lovullo said. 'I told him, 'This is your last hitter.' I challenged him. He challenged me back. I like that kind of stuff. It fires me up.'

Rodriguez is 2-1 with a 5.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets, his best coming this season in a 7-1 victory at Citi Field pn April 9, when he gave up one run and five hits in six innings.

-Field Level Media