D-backs Fight Tough After Achieving Historic Futility vs Nationals

Despite achieving historic levels of futility on the mound, the Diamondbacks showed there is still some fight left in them in an 11-7 loss to the Washington Nationals at Chase Field. Brandon Pfaadt was blown up early, but the D-backs' offense and bullpen did put forward a solid effort.

"When you're down 11-0 in the bottom of the second, most teams will find a way to just cruise and get through the game," said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. "But this team's gritty, this team's tough, and they showed me a lot today."

Pfaadt, facing a lineup full of left-handed and switch hitters, did not retire any of the eight hitters he faced on the night. His night started inauspiciously when he hit CJ Abrams in the foot on a two-strike sweeper, a harbinger of what was to come. Two hit batters and six base hits later, Lovullo was forced to yank his young starter out of the ballgame.

"I didn't think in my time managing Brandon Pfaadt that he would ever give up 10 runs in the first inning without ever recording an out," said Lovullo. "I want him to understand why it happened, I want him to be accountable as to why that happened. I had a brief discussion with him in the dugout, and he's already on that trail. If you fall down 10 runs before you even come in the dugout, that's a lot to overcome."

Pfaadt has overperformed his batted ball data, entering the game with an expected ERA of 6.39. He ranked in the fifth percentile in preventing hard-hit contact and seventh percentile in barrels per batted ball event. Regression came due for the right-hander, as he was unable to execute any of his pitches on the night, resulting in his ERA jumping more than a full run from 3.90 to 5.05.

With Pfaadt's ineffective start, the bullpen had to wear it on the chin for the night. No player had to wear it more than right-hander Ryne Nelson. The team was hoping to push back his next start after stretching him out to 84 pitches in his previous start on Monday. Nelson held Washington off the scoreboard for four innings, stabilizing the game to give the offense a chance to make the game close.

The Diamondbacks started chipping away at Nationals starter Mike Soroka. Soroka retired the first 11 hitters he faced, but Arizona turned the tables from the fourth inning on. They had multiple baserunners reach in each inning, eventually chasing him with one out in the sixth. By the time the sixth was over, an 11-run deficit shrunk down to four.

Josh Naylor got the scoring started for the Diamondbacks in the fourth, launching a two-run home run after Geraldo Perdomo blooped in a single. Arizona tacked on five more runs in the sixth off Soroka and Jackson Rutledge. Pavin Smith tripled in two runs and Gabriel Moreno legged out an infield single. Randal Grichuk punctuated the inning with a two-run home run to the Diamondbacks bullpen to make it 11-7.

They had another opportunity in the eighth inning, with two walks and a single against Cole Henry with one out. However, an ill-advised send by third base coach Shaun Larkin on a Grichuk single resulted in Smith being thrown out at the plate.

Instead of bringing up the potential tying run to the plate that inning, it killed all their offensive momentum in the inning. With the team struggling to win ballgames, they can ill-afford for a coach to compound their issues with bad decision-making late in games.

"Nobody feels worse about it than Shaun Larkin," said Lovullo. "As I got done explaining to him, I think there's certain times you have to be aggressive with certain types of runners. When you're four runs down, you got to be a little bit more conservative and get points on the board with 100% certainty. He's going to learn from that, he's a young coach, he's learning the ropes, but balls get reversed really fast at this level."

Torey Lovullo discusses the Shaun Larkin send of Pavin Smith that snuffed out a rally in the eighth when down 4 runs pic.twitter.com/pTLIGt6Y9A
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) June 1, 2025

The Diamondbacks will look to salvage the series finale. Corbin Burnes will look to continue stringing together Quality Starts, while the Nationals will send left-hander Mitchell Parker to the mound. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 1:10 p.m. MST.