Game Recaps
Diamondbacks move to 5 games over .500 with win vs. Giants
by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]Marte extended his hitting streak to nine games with four knocks at Oracle Park, his third straight game with three-plus hits.
The last Diamondbacks players with three hits in three straight games were Marte last June, Marte in 2019 (twice), Eduardo Escobar in 2019 and Paul Goldschmidt in 2018.
His batting average has jumped from .209 on May 15 to .275, as no one in MLB has a higher average over the past 15 days
than his .444.
Kelly finding groove, Marte extending his streak key D-backs’ 9th win in 11 games by Steve Gilbert [DBacks.com]
In other words, a vintage Merrill Kelly performance.
In an era where big velocity is king, Kelly has found success with a low 90s fastball because he’s able to throw a multitude of pitches and command them.
It was that command and feel that were missing early in the season, when he was still essentially going through Spring Training while pitching in regular-season games.
“That was probably, in my opinion, the sharpest it’s been so far,” Kelly said. “Saw some good life on the fastball. The misses that I have when I’m going bad, when things aren’t right, I didn’t see as many of those today. As far as shapes and location, everything was probably the sharpest.”
Diamondbacks News
Diamondbacks notes: In what order will A.J. Put, Jordan Lawlar and Pavin Smith return? by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]
With June starting next week, the Arizona Diamondbacks are anticipating the impending return of several players from long-term injuries, including reliever A.J. Puk, outfielder Jordan Lawlar and first baseman Pavin Smith.
General manager Mike Hazen suggested on Monday that the order of their respective returns would be Smith, followed by Lawlar and then Puk.
Lawlar and Smith’s 60 days on the injured list are coming to a close, with Smith eligible to return first. Smith went on the IL on March 30 with left elbow inflammation while Lawlar was placed on April 3 with a broken right wrist.
How Ryne Nelson is stringing together starts Arizona needed by Wendy Lopez [Burn City Sports]
While Corbin Carroll and Tommy Troy grabbed the headlines in Sunday’s win over the Colorado Rockies, Ryne Nelson quietly turned in a career outing of his own — and his consistency over the last few starts has made him one of the anchors of Arizona’s rotation.
Arizona’s rotation had previously hit a wall, with inconsistency and short outings from starters hurting not only results, but also forcing the bullpen into games earlier than ideal. Manager Torey Lovullo held a closed-door meeting with his starters to stress the need for better performances, and so far, that message has translated onto the field — especially in Nelson’s case.
The right-hander delivered his fifth consecutive quality start in his latest outing, working into the eighth inning for the first time in the majors. Nelson allowed just one earned run across eight frames while striking out three, continuing a stretch that has helped stabilize the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff.
The 2026 Diamondbacks Are Starting to Feel Weirdly Familiar by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
It was around the 2022 season that the Diamondbacks, at least in the Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo era, began to witness a core group of young players rising to the top of the system, graduating, and becoming regular major league contributors.
Young players like Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy — and even pitchers like Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry — began to make their mark on the big league club. So much so that the Diamondbacks made a surprise march to their second National League pennant and a World Series appearance.
It’s beginning to feel like that again, though perhaps not in identical fashion. The Diamondbacks have stripped away some of their veteran players like Christian Walker, Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez and begun to rely on their youth, once again.
Around the League
Astros combine on MLB’s first no-hitter since 2024, 18th in team history by Michael Clair [MLB]
Tatsuya Imai walked the first two batters he faced Monday night, throwing only two of his first 10 pitches for strikes. That prompted a visit from pitching coach Josh Miller, whose message must have struck the right tone with the former Japanese superstar.
Imai responded by getting a double play grounder and then allowed just two of the next 17 batters he faced to reach to finish six scoreless innings and combined with two relief pitchers to throw the first no-hitter in the Major Leagues in nearly two years in the Astros’ 9-0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
The no-no was the first in the Major Leagues since the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge against the Pirates on Sept. 4, 2024.
2026 Memorial Day standings check: Surprises, letdowns, more [ESPN] {Ed. Note: Passan continues to beat the MLB line about how payroll isn’t actually a big deal in baseball. In the meantime, two of his colleagues further down the article note how the Dodgers don’t care about the regular season anymore because they know they’re getting to October…}
What stands out most when you look at the standings?
Passan: The number of low-payroll teams at the top and the number of high-payroll teams at the bottom. A look at the 10 best and worst teams by record reveals a very interesting fact: Their payrolls are almost identical. The 10 best teams in MLB this season are spending a combined $1.89 billion on players. The 10 worst teams in MLB this season are spending a combined $1.90 billion on players. Three of the 10 best teams — the Tampa Bay Rays, St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Guardians — are carrying sub-$100 million payrolls, while just one of the bottom 10 (the Miami Marlins) are. There are five teams at $200 million-plus among the top 10 but only three in the bottom 10. Lower that threshold by just $5 million, though, and the Red Sox and San Francisco Giants join the New York Mets, Houston Astros and Tigers among the underachievers.
Miz raises bar for 100+ MPH pitches: ‘That’s what I do, I throw hard’ by Adam McCalvy [MLB]
Jacob Misiorowski’s vow to join the 105 mph club will have to wait for another outing.
On Monday against the Cardinals, 103 mph was more than enough to continue rewriting the record books for power pitching.
The big right-hander hit 103 mph or more an unprecedented eight times in the first inning and hit triple digits 57 times on the day — 10 more than any other pitcher since the pitch tracking era began in 2008. Misiorowski tied his career high with 12 strikeouts to become the first pitcher in MLB to reach 100 strikeouts this season. He didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, when he finally allowed his first run of what has been a dazzling month of May.
Wander Franco found criminally responsible, but no prison [ESPN]
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was declared criminally responsible for the sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, but he will not serve a sentence for it, a Dominican judge ruled Monday.
In his decision, Judge José Antonio Núñez considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor’s mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.
“It seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and, at the same time, exempt him from punishment,” Núñez said. “The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one.”
Rockies Place José Quintana On 15-Day IL With Sprained Elbow by Connor Byrne [MLB Trade Rumors]
Quintana’s IL placement comes on the heels of a short and disastrous start in Arizona on Sunday. In what turned into a 9-1 loss, Quintana yielded six earned runs over 1 1/3 innings. He will now miss at least two weeks, but elbow injuries often lead to much longer absences. The 37-year-old Quintana has been on the IL seven times during his career, including once this season for a hamstring strain, but an elbow problem had never shelved him until this issue cropped up.
