PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson made another pitch that he belongs in the starting rotation with 6.2 shutout innings on Monday in a 5-0 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nelson played the role of stopper, as his performance was key to ending a five-game losing streak.

The Diamondbacks have five shutout wins this season, which have been started by four different pitchers (Corbin Burnes twice, Brandon Pfaadt, Merrill Kelly and now Nelson).

Nelson allowed four hits with no walks, striking out four batters as he consistently pounded the strike zone for quick outs. He threw 59 strikes out of 84 pitches, setting his season high for pitch count.

“Fastball command was there, I feel like that’s where it always starts for me,” Nelson said. “I’m jumping ahead of guys. I feel like that opens up everything. Slider and curveball made a big step forward today, and the changeup, as well.

“Been working on the secondary stuff a lot in these bullpens I’ve had, so nice to have the week to get some quality work in on the secondary stuff.”

Dating back to July 2024, Nelson has made 15 starts with a 2.98 ERA as a starter. Through three starts this season, Nelson has tossed 16 innings with three earned runs.

Ryne Nelson, Nasty 85mph Slider. 😨 pic.twitter.com/glFbEqBKoX

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 27, 2025

The right-hander had to deal with some early tough luck on Monday, as Pirates lead-off man Oneil Cruz hit a weak chopper that hugged the third-base line for a double on the first pitch of the game. Nelson worked out of that jam, sitting down eight of the next nine batters with only a ground ball single mixed in.

He worked through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings with only 29 combined pitches, striking out Cruz for a second time to end the fifth. He retired the final eight batters he faced.

Taking Ryne Nelson out of the rotation is a tough choice

Monday was Nelson’s second start since he took over a rotation spot with southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez hitting the 15-day injured list on May 15 (shoulder inflammation).

Nelson delivered five innings with one earned run at Dodger Stadium last week.

He opened the season in the bullpen as the odd man out in a crowded group of starting pitchers. The D-backs have kept him stretched out to a degree as a long man, allowing him to make starts when needed.

What happens to Nelson when Rodriguez returns will be cause for tough discussions.

“Making it hard on them means I’m going out there and doing my job,” Nelson said. “That’s all I’m trying to do right now is prepare each week, take care of the body, make sure the arm stays healthy and go out there and get some outs.”

Manager Torey Lovullo said pregame that the idea of using the struggling Rodriguez (7.05 ERA) — an accomplished veteran in Year 2 of an $80 million contract and the lone lefty in the rotation — as a reliever has not come up behind closed doors.

Rodriguez threw three innings and 55 pitches in a simulated game over the weekend and will toss a bullpen on Tuesday. He is expected to need one more rehab outing, so Nelson is in line to make his next start on Sunday against the Washington Nationals.

What is clear is that Nelson is one of Arizona’s best five starting pitchers right now and has been since the middle of last year. He’s made it difficult to keep him out of the rotation before, notably last summer when the D-backs bumped $25-million-dollar Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen to keep Nelson starting.

“Nelly’s a very important piece of this team,” Lovullo said. “He will continue to be, no matter where he’s throwing.

“ I like tough decisions. I love digging into coaches to give me reasons why we do things and how we’re doing them. I like when we’re challenged by players performing at a very good level when they’re doing their job. We should have those types of tough conversations.”

Diamondbacks out-slug Pirates

Arizona’s lineup gave Nelson early support, coming through with two runs in the second inning off Pirates lefty Andrew Heaney. Randal Grichuk singled and Gabriel Moreno doubled to start the frame, but the D-backs were already 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position in the first inning.

This time, the club executed, as Tim Tawa hit a sacrifice fly and Ketel Marte singled home Moreno.

Then the power came into play, as Eugenio Suarez hit a 433-foot solo shot in the third and Josh Naylor smacked a two-run homer in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead.

Josh Naylor crushes his 6th homer of the season! pic.twitter.com/FefZ8iFHj0

— MLB (@MLB) May 27, 2025

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Moreno finished the game with three hits, while Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each collected a pair of knocks. The team went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Contentious 8th inning

The eighth inning must have been stress-inducing for a fanbase that has watched Arizona’s bullpen struggle to hold seemingly safe leads before. The Pirates worked the bases loaded with no outs after a Suarez error and back-to-back walks from Scott McGough.

Justin Martinez entered for his second appearance since coming off the IL to face the jam, quite a test for the right-hander to jump back into another high-leverage situation.

Martinez struck out Bryan Reynolds on a nasty splitter, forced a pop-out and ended the inning with a fielder’s choice to keep the shutout intact.

“It was great to see that,” Lovullo said. “For me, that was a save.”

Justin Martinez, Filthy 89mph Splitter. 😷 pic.twitter.com/640xjfWNT9

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 27, 2025

Diamondbacks’ next game

The Diamondbacks (27-27) will play for a series win on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. with Burnes on the mound. Pittsburgh (19-36) will start right-hander Mike Burrows, who has one MLB start to his name.

Pirates ace Paul Skenes will start on Wednesday against Zac Gallen.

Both games will air on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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It is now 96 days until the 2025 Arizona State Sun Devils football program embarks on a season that follows the 11-win team from the year prior.

Last season saw three gut-wrenching losses – two of them against unexpected foes. This season sees the Sun Devils face a schedule that is manageable, but that doesn’t mean that challenges aren’t on the horizon.

A ranking of the five toughest games in the upcoming season – taking into account road environments, opponent’s talent on paper, and other factors that can be measured at the moment:

The early November trip to Ames will be a challenging one for Dillingham’s squad – who traveled to face the sputtering Oklahoma State Cowboys at this same time last season.

Matt Campbell and Rocco Becht could have the Cyclones in the Big 12 title race, while garnering revenge on the Sun Devils for the 2024 championship game drubbing could be a consolation prize

The conference opener this season for the Sun Devils is a road trip to Texas – this time to Waco.

Sawyer Robertson has the Bears in a position to be in the conference title race – this contest could be a high-scoring one.

The penultimate week of the regular season will see the Sun Devils travel to Boulder to face Deion Sanders.

The Buffaloes are considered an enigma in the conference once again, but this game profiles as a challenge regardless of how the Buffaloes’ season goes to this point – cold weather has not treated past Arizona State teams well.

This October road trip to Salt Lake City is a challenge simply due to the constant that is Kyle Whittingham.

The Utes head coach consistently builds up physical defenses that can wreak havoc on virtually any opposing offense – the addition of Devon Dampier via the transfer portal also gives life to an offense that has largely been lifeless since 2023.

The Red Raiders are quite possibly the most talented team that Arizona State will face in 2025. This follows Joey McGuire’s program handing the Sun Devils a loss in the latter’s conference debut in Septmeber of last season.

This figures to be the toughest battle ASU will face all season – even with the contest being held in Tempe.

Sam Leavitt, Jordyn Tyson, and the remainder of the Sun Devil roster appear well equipped to get through these challenges relatively unscathed, but the games still have to be played.

Read more about how the Sun Devil season could turn out here and here.

Please let us know your thoughts on how the Sun Devils will navigate the schedule when you like our Facebook page when you click right here.

“Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher” — Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver

Arizona is headed into the NCAA Tournament on a 5-game win streak, its longest since March, and the biggest question mark entering the 2025 season has become its biggest strength.

The 2-1, 10-inning win over TCU in the Big 12 Tournament final marked the fourth consecutive game in which the Wildcats (39-18) allowed one run. That hadn’t happened for the UA since 1974, when it held seven consecutive opponents to one or fewer runs.

It’s been a collective effort, but Arizona’s starters have led the charge. Sophomore Owen Kramkowski, senior Raul Garayzar and freshman Smith Bailey have combined to allow three earned runs over their last 28 innings, translating to an 0.96 ERA.

Pitching was the big question mark for Arizona headed into this season. Gone were a trio of starters who combined to throw 272 innings before each getting taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, and in their place was a starting rotation that would feature two arms making their first career collegiate start.

For most of the 2025 season, though, Arizona’s pitching staff held its own. A deep bullpen took pressure off the starters to have to go too deep, and after back-to-back wins over TCU at Hi Corbett Field in early May the Wildcats’ ERA was a respectable 4.50, only slightly above the 4.46 mark from last year’s Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament champs.

But then came a 6-game stretch in which the UA pitching struggled mightily, starting with a 13-6 loss to TCU and continuing with a disappointing home series loss to last place Utah in which it allowed 28 runs. Then came a 13-4 loss at Houston, which was hitting .220 in Big 12 play.

Arizona’s ERA had surged to 5.07. That wasn’t going to cut it in the postseason, and if the losses kept piling up just making the NCAA Tournament might have been in jeopardy.

Then came a move by pitching coach Kevin Vance that changed everything.

Vance had already swapped his No. 1 and 2 starters, moving Kramkowski to the top spot and sliding redshirt sophomore Collin McKinney back. But McKinney, a transfer from Baylor, could not go deep in games due to too many walks and hit batters, and he lost his spot in the rotation for the final weekend of the regular season.

In his place was Garayzar, who had started a handful of midweek games but otherwise was used in relief. He made his first Big 12 start on May 16 at Houston, going 4.2 innings and allowing only four hits with one run in a 14-6 victory.

The next day Bailey, the first UA true freshman to make 15 or more starts since Kurt Heyer in 2010, had arguably the best outing of his career by going six in an 8-1 win to wrap up the regular season.

Kramkowski, who had a 2.70 ERA in April that included an 8.2-inning performance at ASU, had allowed 14 earned runs in 14.1 innings in three May starts before tossing six shutout frames against BYU in the Big 12 Tournament opener. Garayzar then followed with his own six scoreless innings in the semifinal win over West Virginia ahead of Bailey allowing a run in the first but nothing else over 5.1 innings in the conference title game.

Before the current win streak, Arizona’s starting pitchers had recorded four quality starts (six or more innings allowing three or fewer runs) and that had begun to tax the bullpen. Juniors Casey Hintz and Garrett Hicks, who have combined for 50 appearances and 86.1 innings, had lost their effectiveness and were getting hit hard. Hunter Alberini, Matthew Martinez, Eric Orloff and Julian Tonghini were good some outings, not so good the other, making it hard to get the ball to closer Tony Pluta.

But over the last five games the pen has been nails, and not getting overused has likely helped their cause. Over 18 innings they’ve allowed four earned runs, and in the Big 12 final the relievers combined for 4.2 scoreless frames with two hits, four strikeouts and no walks.

But as the Weaver quote reminds us, that can all change in a blink. Last year Arizona’s starters were lights out all season, including in the Pac-12 Tournament when Clark Candiotti threw seven innings of 1-run ball in the semifinals and Cam Walty went eight strong in the final.

A week later, as a regional host, Candiotti and Walty were tagged for 11 runs in 10 innings and the Wildcats went 0-2. Even the 1974 team can attest to how quickly things can go south, as that squad was 58-4 entering the NCAA tourney only to lose consecutive games at Northern Colorado.

The 1974 team finished with a team ERA of 2.07, best in school history, but allowed six runs in each regional game. That had only happened six times during the regular season.