The Diamondbacks finished their Southern California road trip with a flourish, defeating the San Diego Padres 9-1 at Petco Park. Arizona has won back-to-back road series in Los Angeles and San Diego and are .500 again at 45-45. Ryne Nelson was excellent for 6 2/3 innings on the mound and Eugenio Suárez powered the offense with five RBI.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“We’ve been playing great baseball, we’ve put everything together on the field,” Suárez told reporter Mike Pomeranz in the postgame coverage on the Roku TV broadcast. “We came here to win the games. I feel like we play like a family, we never give up. You see in the first game here, we were down six, we never gave up. We came here to win, we came here to do our best.”
The Diamondbacks offense was held in check for the first six innings by Padres right-hander Dylan Cease. Their only run scored in that stretch came from the first batter of the game, when Corbin Carroll tomahawked an elevated fastball to the right field seats to put Arizona up 1-0. San Diego immediately answered with a home run of their own from Jurickson Profar, tying the game at 1-1. That remained the score until the top of the seventh.
With two outs in the inning, Geraldo Perdomo grinded down Cease and eventually worked a walk. That brought Suárez up to the plate, who turned on a 97 MPH fastball on the inner third of the zone for the decisive two-run home run.
Struggling hitters hitting big homers today! Geno Suárez gives the #Dbacks a 3-1 lead. #GoodVibesOnly pic.twitter.com/yr77ARZBjP
— Burn City D-backs Talk????️ (@BurnCityDbacks) July 7, 2024
“I know he’s a great pitcher, he’s got good stuff, but I was ready for his fastball,” said Suárez. “I know he likes them, I just think to not let him beat me with a fastball. I think that was my key, try to not do too much, stay focused, stay middle of the field. Use all the field and put my best swing on it. I feel that was my key today, and that’s why I had a good day.”
Those runs would be enough for Ryne Nelson, who turned in arguably the biggest start of his career. Nelson quieted the Padres for 6 2/3 strong innings, with the Profar home run as his lone blemish, allowing just three hits, one walk, and striking out five. With Arizona’s rotation struggling to pitch deep in games due to effectiveness or injuries, it was a breath of fresh air for the team.
“That’s the Nelly we want to see, he did a really good job today,” said Suárez. “We just want him to keep pitching like that.”
He exhibited excellent command of his four-seamer and cutter combination, as the two pitches combined for all nine of his whiffs and 14 called strikes. Nelson also kept the ball off the barrel of the bat in this game, as only four of the 17 balls put into play against him were labeled as hard-hit. The young right-hander has slowly been putting together solid starts, giving them a reliable option while the Diamondbacks await the return of Merill Kelly and Eduardo Rodríguez next month.
As the game unfolded, Arizona pounced on the soft underbelly of the Padres bullpen. After manufacturing a run in the eighth to expand the lead to three, they blew the game open in the top of the ninth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Suárez, who split the left center gap to clear the bases. Alek Thomas and Gabriel Moreno also doubled in the inning, pushing the lead out to eight runs. The bullpen retired seven of the last eight hitters to close the game out and put a stamp on a 4-2 road trip.
The Diamondbacks will return home for a four-game series against the Braves. It will serve as a test to see how they continue to navigate a slate of games where they play some of the best teams in the National League. Yilber Diaz will make his major league debut for Arizona, while Atlanta counters with left-hander Chris Sale (11-3, 2.71 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 6:40 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
