Ryne Nelson Strikes Out Career High Eight Batters in Six Strong Innings

The Diamondbacks defeated the White Sox 7-1 with homers from Eugenio Suarez and Joc Pederson

Jun 14, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson (19) throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Ryne Nelson followed one of his worst games of the year with one of his best. Pitching six strong innings, he struck out a career high eight batters while allowing just one run as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-1.

It was the second straight night a D-backs starter went six innings, after having gone seven games without a starter going that deep in a game. Nelson mixed all five of his pitches effectively, getting swing and miss with all of them and keeping the White Sox off balance.

Nelson's record improved to 4-5 and he lowered his ERA from 5.96 to 5.49. His final line was 6 IP, 6H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. He threw a whopping 71 of 95 pitches for strikes.

The offense meanwhile started to get to White Sox starter Chris Flexen in the second inning. Tucker Barnhart hit a bases-loaded single through a hole into right field to score the D-backs' first two runs. Lourdes Gurriel drove in Joc Pederson from third with a base hit. Pederson had singled, stolen second and advanced to third on a throwing error.

The big emotional moment for the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning. The much maligned and slumping Eugenio Suarez hit a solo homer to left that gave the D-backs a 4-1 lead at the time. Suarez' current and future playing time has been a hot topic of late, and Torey Lovullo had to clarify some previous comments about just how much Suarez was going to be playing.

Eugenio Suarez gets off the mat and answers the bell !

pic.twitter.com/QVblhHl8Up

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) June 15, 2024

The D-backs went on to score two more runs in the fourth, thanks in part to some sloppy defense by the White Sox. Corbin Carroll had an RBI single however and Pederson drove in a run with a groundout. Then in the 7th inning Pederson led off with homer to right, his 9th of the year and second in as many nights.

Justin Martinez, Bryce Jarvis and Joe Mantiply each threw a scoreless inning in relief as the punchless White Sox lineup could not do anything to get back in the game.

With the win, the D-backs climb back to within two games of .500 at 34-36. Game two of the series is Saturday night, with a game time of 7:10 PM. The D-backs' starter is listed as TBD. Arizona is expected to go with an opener and then hand the ball off to lefty Tommy Henry. Chicago will start Erick Fedde.