D-backs Drop Opener vs Nationals Behind Sloppy Defense, Pitching

The Arizona Diamondbacks continue to beat themselves. On Friday night, they lost a high-scoring affair to the Washington Nationals 9-7. Merrill Kelly was roughed up, and although the offense rallied for six runs on 12 hits, it wasn't enough to overcome bullpen woes that have become an aggravating norm.

Kelly's night certainly wasn't a career-worst, but he encountered his fair share of hardship — admittedly not all his fault. Kelly pitched five innings and allowed six runs, though only four were earned. He walked two and struck out six, throwing 95 pitches, 59 for strikes.

It began with two relatively quick outs, but a sloppy fielding error by Ketel Marte on a routine 6-4 putout prolonged what would have been an efficient inning. After the error, Kelly issued a walk and a single, plating two unearned runs and extending his first inning to over 30 pitches.

From there, it was a mixed bag for the right-hander. He threw a scoreless second, then was jumped on for four runs in the third. He served up a solo homer to James Wood before issuing a walk and single. Kelly then graciously offered former Diamondback Josh Bell a center-cut changeup, which went 430 feet to center field and gave Washington a 6-4 lead.

Kelly would throw two more scoreless innings, and with the help of some run support, avoided taking the loss despite some shaky command.

Merrill Kelly talks about the recent stretch the Diamondbacks are on. pic.twitter.com/m11Rys347H
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) May 31, 2025

Most of that run support came early. After the error and two-run deficit in the first inning, the D-backs exploded for four runs off Nationals' starter Jake Irvin. Geraldo Perdomo, batting third in the order for the first time in his career, collected Arizona's first RBI knock of the night.

The D-backs got to Irvin again in the third, working two runs on a pair of doubles by Eugenio Suárez and Pavin Smith, and a single from Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Suárez ended his night 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Smith was a similar 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Gurriel was 2-for-3, and Josh Naylor was 2-for-5.

The D-backs' 4-7 hitters each recorded two base hits, and eight of nine D-backs hitters collected at least one. Arizona rapped out an impressive 12 hits, and though they were 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position, their seven runs weren't enough to stand up to the poor display of pitching and defense.

The Diamondbacks have scored six or more runs 23 times this season, but have lost 10 of those — the most in MLB. Their 13-10 record in such games is only better than the lowly Rockies.

It was, of course, the bullpen that sealed Arizona's fate once again. Juan Morillo walked three and allowed a two-run single in the sixth, spotting Washington an 8-6 lead. Jalen Beeks gave up a run of his own. Recently recalled right-hander Jeff Brigham managed a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

Arizona scraped across a run in the ninth against closer Kyle Finnegan, but it was too little, too late.

"These are very challenging times, I'm not going to lie," manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. "We're in a huge grind, every one of us.

"We're a really good baseball team, and we should not be three games under .500. We've got to tighten things down. ... We're close, but we've got to win baseball games. That's the bottom line."

"Getting two or three hits a game and going out and playing clean defensively, going out there and challenging hitters on the mound, not giving up six walks, and that's when this will get better," the skipper continued. "They're very identifiable things."

The D-backs fall to 27-30 and are in dire need of consecutive wins in this series. They'll get two more chances against the Nationals, with Saturday's first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. behind right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.