Diamondbacks offense sputters in loss to Giants, pitcher Ryne Nelson injured

SAN FRANCISCO — Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson lifted his arm and repositioned his elbow. There, on the outside of his right arm, was the aftereffect of a line drive that struck him in the second inning: a long red strip with a series of short, parallel lines. It was the seams of a baseball imprinted on his skin.

“A little tattoo,” Nelson said.

Not only did the Diamondbacks lose a baseball game on Thursday night, falling to the San Francisco Giants, 5-0, at Oracle Park, they also likely lost a starting pitcher.

Nelson’s initial diagnosis — the team is calling it a right elbow contusion — was based off X-rays that came back negative. That is good news, of course, though Nelson admitted after the game to having some trouble seeing it that way based on how much discomfort he still found himself in.

“Definitely seeing that it wasn’t fractured was a positive,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like I’m super lucky, but it definitely could have been worse.”

Diamondbacks left-hander Logan Allen turned in 4⅔ innings of one-run ball in relief of Nelson. The offense managed just three hits in getting shutout for the first time this season. There was another costly out on the bases and another harmful error in the field. All told, it was a rough way to open a 10-game, three-city road trip.

How the injury affects things moving forward

Just as the Diamondbacks prepared to welcome left-hander Jordan Montgomery onto their roster, they now find themselves having to deal with yet another injury. Manager Torey Lovullo said it is too early to know if Nelson will be able to avoid the injured list, but he also admitted to having talked about potential fallback options for his rotation.

Lovullo also acknowledged the fact that Montgomery’s arrival — he is scheduled to make his Diamondbacks debut on Friday night — might force the club to make a speedy decision on Nelson for the purposes of roster construction.

“We know that a move has to be made with Jordan tomorrow, so we’re crunched for time here,” Lovullo said.

Montgomery will be moving into a rotation spot vacated by lefty Tommy Henry, who was optioned after Tuesday night’s game. But if Nelson misses time, too, the Diamondbacks will need a replacement.

They could always bring back Henry. Or they could go back to Allen, who after a shaky start mostly breezed through the rest of his night.

“He was fantastic,” Lovullo said. “We were in a position to win the game in the eighth inning with a one-run deficit all because of him. He was unbelievable. Without him we would have had no chance.”

What Allen's night meant for the DBacks

Allen, 26, has pitched parts of four seasons in the big leagues but hadn’t appeared in the majors since May 2022. Signed by the Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent in December, he opened eyes in spring training, then continued posting solid results in Triple-A Reno.

He was added to the roster on Wednesday to provide support for a tired bullpen, and with Montgomery’s arrival imminent, it appeared Allen’s stay might be brief. That might no longer be the case after everything that happened on Thursday night.

“It’s about whatever is best for the Diamondbacks,” Allen said. “If they need me to start, then I’m going to start and put us in a position to win. If they need me to continue to do what I did tonight, I’m going to do my best to continue doing that.”

Relying heavily on a splitter he said he dusted off from his days as a prospect, Allen flooded the strike zone and induced soft contact while going twice through the Giants’ order.

Allen was a bright spot on another otherwise discouraging night for the Diamondbacks. The offense was shut down by Giants right-hander Logan Webb, who gave up just two hits in seven innings and at one point retired 19 in a row. Webb finished his night first with a pickoff of Christian Walker at first base, then by getting a ground-ball out, the 13th he induced on the night.

It was 1-0 before the Giants scored four times to break the game open in the eighth, when they took advantage of an error by second baseman Ketel Marte on a slow roller up the middle.

Lovullo saw the pickoff and the error as instances of his players trying too hard.

“It’s not typically what we look like when we play a game,” Lovullo said. “I think these guys are really forcing things and trying to do too much too fast.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks offense sputters again in loss to Giants