The Diamondbacks bounced back to defeat the Washington Nationals 5-2 to take their third consecutive series. Ryne Nelson turned in another excellent start, holding Washington to two runs over seven strong innings. A big fourth inning against Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore proved to be the difference in the game, as Arizona pushed across three runs for the margin of victory.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Facing three teams with a losing record, the Diamondbacks took care of business with series wins in all three. They’ve won seven of their last 10 games and hold a position for a playoff spot in a chaotic National League Wild Card race.
“It’s always nice to win series,” said outfielder Jake McCarthy on the Diamondbacks television broadcast after the game. “We got three more games on this road trip, so we’re trying to go up to Philly and finish strong.”
Ryne Nelson steps up again
Ryne Nelson is quietly putting across an impressive streak on the mound. He’s pitched six innings in four of his last five starts, recording a quality start in three of them. When Nelson logs a quality start this season, the Diamondbacks are 4-0.
In his start against the White Sox, he was dominant with his four-seam fastball and struck out a career-high eight batters. Against the Nationals, he was efficient against an “early fire” team and got a lot of early-count outs. He only needed 70 pitches to clear the seventh inning, the lowest pitch count for a seven-inning or longer start in franchise history.
He finished with only two strikeouts but did not walk a batter and allowed just three hits. The two lone blemishes on his start were two solo home runs, hit by Lane Thomas in the third and Jesse Winker in the sixth.
“He was commanding his fastball,” said Torey Lovullo on the broadcast. “Tucker said he hadn’t introduced a pitch or two consistently about the fourth or fifth inning and his stuff was really good. I felt like they got into a really good pattern and things started to work beyond that fifth inning.”
Pitching to contact, Nelson kept the ball off the barrel, with only seven of the 22 balls put in play against him recording an exit velocity of 95 MPH or greater.
Due to his start, Lovullo only needed to use his two backend relievers, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald, to close out the game.
“That’s a manager’s dream, right? You hand it to your two backend relievers because your starter gives you seven quality innings and the offense gives you the right run support.”
Ryne Nelson sets record with efficient start in Diamondbacks’ win
Jake McCarthy jumpstarts Diamondbacks’ offense
Facing MacKenzie Gore is a tough matchup for any hitter. Jake McCarthy was up for the challenge, ripping three line drive singles against the likely All-Star left-hander. The left-handed hitting McCarthy has been surprisingly effective against left-handed pitchers, going 15-for-34 at the plate and four walks. Two of those three hits came around to score against Gore.
“The lefty-righty thing, they got to throw it over the same plate,” said McCarthy. “I don’t like to put too much into who’s throwing, obviously everyone is good at this level. I just try to swing at strikes, try to hit line drives, I was able to do that today.”
He was active on the bases, taking advantage of a battery struggling to throw out base stealers. Gore had allowed 12 of 13 stolen base attempts to be successful and Keibert Ruiz has the slowest pop time to second at 2.10 according to Baseball Savant. McCarthy was successful on both steal attempts.
“Gore is pretty quick to the plate, I think it’s about getting good jumps and picking the right times,” said McCarthy. “Our M.O. is being aggressive. Every now and then we make outs on the basepaths, that’s kind of the give-and-take of being an aggressive team. When it works for us, we put up runs and our pitchers appreciate that. I think it makes us harder to beat.”
Next Game
The Diamondbacks will take a train to Philadelphia to play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have the best record in the National League at 49-25. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (5-4, 6.00 ERA) will face right-hander Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.33 ERA). First pitch will be at 6:40 P.M. local time, or 3:40 P.M. MST.
The game will be live-streamed to Apple T.V., but Diamondbacks fans can head down to Guy Fieri’s Downtown Phoenix Kitchen and Bar for a watch party. Part of the festivities will include a Q&A session with starting pitcher Merrill Kelly.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
