Arizona Diamondbacks Ride Dominant Pitching to Historic Win Over Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates could only muster up one hit in 11 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, leading to a line score never seen before in MLB history.

Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Anthony DeSclafani (21) celebrates with catcher James McCann (8) after beating the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Friday's series opener between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates was a pitchers' duel fit for the history books, but only one team could come out on top.

D-backs righty Ryne Nelson and Pirates rookie Mike Burrows each opened the contest with 6.0 scoreless innings. The former gave up one hit and two walks with four strikeouts, while the latter allowed three hits and one walk with five strikeouts.

Anthony DeSclafani took over for Nelson and dealt 4.0 scoreless, hitless frames while giving up just two walks. The Pirates' bullpen was almost as effective, as Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana, David Bednar and Braxton Ashcraft kept the showdown scoreless through 10 innings as well, giving up two hits and two walks along the way.

The Diamondbacks finally pulled through in the top of the 11th, drawing a walk and notching a sacrifice fly off of Ashcraft to go up 1-0. The Pirates failed to answer, losing by one run in the process.

Arizona recorded five hits to Pittsburgh's one – a Tommy Pham triple in the second inning.

According to OptaSTATS, the Diamondbacks now stand alone as the only MLB team in the modern era to win a game 1-0 in 11 or more innings while allowing one or fewer hits.

The @Dbacks are the only MLB team in the modern era to win a game 1-0 in 11+ innings while allowing only 1 hit (or none). pic.twitter.com/bHmhSyJj5f

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 26, 2025

Game two between the Diamondbacks and Pirates is scheduled for Saturday at 6:40 p.m. ET. Merrill Kelly will take the mound against Andrew Heaney.

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