D-backs' Game vs Braves Turns Ugly after Abysmal Pitching Performance

The Arizona Diamondbacks were trailing 2-1 to the Atlanta Braves through four innings on Thursday night. By the middle of the ninth inning, it was 17-1 — as catcher James McCann walked off the mound following his first pitching appearance of the season. Arizona would go on to lose 17-2, giving up the most runs in a game since 2021.

Right-hander Ryne Nelson gave up a pair of early two run homers, then lost the feel for the strike zone. Two defensive miscues in the fifth inning led to the most lopsided frame of the season for Arizona, as the Braves stacked eight runs.

Nelson had seven runs go on his line, but only two were earned as a result of a fielding error by Nolan Arenado. Kevin Ginkel gave up three runs of his own in just 0.1 innings of work.

"We've got to put the ball on the plate. We've got to follow game plans. We've got to do all the things that we know we can do, what we have done in the past, and it's about execution," manager Torey Lovullo said postgame (via the D-backs.TV broadcast).

"If we don't execute, you're going to have days like this. That's a very good team over there, but I like our pitchers enough to say that we could have done a much better job. ... We've got to flush this as fast as we possibly can."

Diamondbacks blown out by Braves

Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo (17) relieves pitcher Ryne Nelson (19) in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Righty Joe Ross, who was responsible for Arizona's six-run meltdown inning in game one of their series against the Detroit Tigers, issued three walks. He was only able to complete two innings, needing 52 pitches to give up two more runs.

That forced righty Andrew Hoffmann into the game, who threw a scoreless inning.

McCann followed to complete the game, but he gave up five runs of his own, as Atlanta kept the line moving despite entering the inning up 12-1.

Arizona's offense was quiet only managing to score two runs. The D-backs were outhit by the Braves by an eye-popping margin of 16-6.

Atlanta batted around twice in the game — once in the fifth and once in the ninth. 11 of 12 Braves hitters recorded an RBI, including all nine starters.

The first was Jordan Lawlar's first career major league home run. The second came as a result of an RBI double by Ildemaro Vargas in the ninth inning.

The D-backs were rolling after their three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, but Thursday's game put a decisive end to Arizona's hot streak. The two teams will square off three more times at Chase Field over the next three days, before the D-backs head out for a lengthy road trip.

Arizona is now 3-4, giving up five or more runs in an inning during three of their past four contests despite being 3-1 in that stretch.