The last thing the Arizona Diamondbacks need in the midst of a playoff chase is for their two ace starting pitchers to crumble down the stretch.

While these last two starts by Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are probably outliers in their otherwise spectacular seasons, their performances against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the last two nights played a significant factor in the Diamondbacks losing their standing in the National League wild card picture.

The duo, who both had top-5 ERAs in the NL entering their respective starts against the Dodgers, combined to allow 13 runs on 21 hits. They both did not make it past the sixth inning.

“Yeah, you don’t really budget for that,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said, via Sarah Wexler. “You don't think that's going to happen. Look, give credit where credit is due — [the Dodgers] came out ready to play in the first inning and pounced on our two best guys.”

The Diamondbacks started the series on Monday in the final wild card spot in the National League. They are currently on the outside looking in as the San Francisco Giants have won three straight. Things don’t get much easier for Arizona this week. It'll host the Baltimore Orioles, the American League's best team, this weekend.

Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are both NL Cy Young Award candidates this season. Tossing a combined 33 quality starts will do that for a pitcher. The Diamondbacks have two great ones and they need both of them to be at the top of their games in September.