It was another well-played game by the Diamondbacks, as they defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-1 at Chase Field. The offense showed up early and often, giving Ryne Nelson an early lead. The young right-hander repaid that support by pitching six strong innings and striking out a career-high eight batters to record his fourth win of the season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Nelson was in attack mode early in the game, challenging White Sox hitters with his mid-90s four-seamer up in the strike zone. That was the plan he and catcher Tucker Barnhart came up with before the game.
“His fastball is his biggest strength,” said Barnhart on the Diamondbacks postgame television broadcast. “We talked about it before the game about making them hit fastballs. Using his pitches, using his strengths a heck of a lot more than anything else. It opened the curveball, it opened up the slider, it opened up his cutter, even his changeup. Tonight, Nelly was awesome. He was on the attack from the start, I think he threw 60-plus strikes. Whenever you got a guy doing that, it’s going to be tough on the offense.”
Making the White Sox hitter conscious of his mid-90s fastball opened up the rest of his arsenal. Nelson recorded four strikeouts on his four-seamer, two on the slider, one on the curveball, and one on the changeup. He induced 13 swings and misses, the second-highest total of the season after getting a career-high 16 in a start against the Atlanta Braves on April 7. It also marked only the fourth time the young starter has completed six innings, with the Diamondbacks winning three.
“I thought he was pitching and sequencing and that created an uneasy approach and kept these guys off balance,” said Lovullo. “They’re a very aggressive team to the fastball, and I thought Nelly did a nice job with Tucker, getting into a rhythm and counterpunching their approach.”
The Diamondbacks have been harping on Nelson not to be overly reliant on his fastball the past two seasons. He mixed in his pitches more effectively, with only 39 of his 95 pitches being four-seamers. Nelson was able to land his secondary stuff effectively in and around the strike zone, taking advantage of a very aggressive-swinging team in key at-bats.
After the White Sox scored first in the top of the second, the Diamondbacks answered with two in the bottom half. A key moment came with Eugenio Suárez, who entered the game batting .195 on the season, who drew a walk to load the bases for the .140 hitting Barnhart. Barnhart ripped a ground ball through the right side of the infield to score two runs and give Arizona the lead. Both Suárez and Barnhart had a big impact on this game offensively.
Tucker Barnhart drives in two after Eugenio Suárez worked a key walk. pic.twitter.com/Vue17r9nkc
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) June 15, 2024
The Diamondbacks tacked on another run in the third. Joc Pederson singled with one out then got to third on a stolen base and a throwing error from White Sox catcher Korey Lee. After Christian Walker struck out, the Diamondbacks needed a big, two-out. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stepped up to the plate and delivered that hit, hitting a ground ball past a diving Nicky Lopez, to make it 3-1. That ended up being the biggest at-bat of the game and allowed them to continue to ramp up the pressure and chased White Sox starter Chris Flexen the following inning.
The biggest feel-good moment came in the bottom of the fourth when Suárez got a 3-0 green light and crushed a fastball into the left center field stands. It may have been a solo home run, but given how tough a year it’s been for the Diamondbacks’ third baseman it felt like something much more for the team.
GENOOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/B6dRfbTGcn
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 15, 2024
“I think everybody is genuinely excited for him,” said Lovullo. “He’s working his butt off, he’s had a lot of good work days. I think everybody is genuinely excited for him to get a 3-0 fastball and hit it as hard as he did.”
The Diamondbacks blew it open later in the inning. Barnhart picked up his second single of the night, then scored when Corbin Carroll’s chopper got by a drawn-in Andrew Vaughn at first base. Pederson drove in another run following Chicago’s second error of the night that made it 6-1. He later added a solo home run in the seventh for the game’s final score. Justin Martinez, Bryce Jarvis, and Joe Mantiply each pitched a scoreless inning to close the game out.
The second game of this weekend series will be at 7:10 P.M. MST. Right-hander Scott McGough (1-3, 5.85 ERA) will open for Arizona, with Tommy Henry likely to be the bulk reliever behind him, while the White Sox will go with right-hander Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.10 ERA).
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
