Diamondbacks avoid post-Dodgers letdown, clobber Rockies in Soroka’s return

PHOENIX — After playing in front of more than 136,000 fans against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, the Arizona Diamondbacks had to avoid a letdown in a more low-key environment, facing the lowly Colorado Rockies in a thinly-crowded ballpark on Monday.

It took no time to quell any concerns, as the Diamondbacks jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning off a Nolan Arenado grand slam against his former club — which shortstop Geraldo Perdomo claimed to have called from the dugout.

The D-backs tacked on three more runs in the second inning against Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes, who needed 62 pitches just to get through the first two frames.

That early surge was all the Diamondbacks needed to bury the Rockies in the opener, 9-0.

“I thought today was a great win, considering this weekend, a lot of buzz and then today not quite the same energy. But to see us come out ready to go was huge,” Arenado said after the Diamondbacks put up five hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch in the first two innings.

“It was really nice to see what we did in the first inning,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “You’re always curious about a little bit of an emotional letdown after a huge weekend that was energized. We played good baseball and I saw everything I needed to know in those in those first four or five hitters.”

Arizona has won nine of its last 13 games to improve to 64-56, tied for the second National League Wild Card spot with the Philadelphia Phillies.

GRAND SLAM NOLAN ARENADO ‼️ pic.twitter.com/VcsAqBPUa1

— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2026

With the Diamondbacks having passed Lovullo’s test of not starting out lethargically, the two biggest storylines of this game became how starting pitcher Michael Soroka fared coming off the injured list and the status of Perdomo, who exited after four innings with left knee soreness.

Perdomo is 50-50 to play on Tuesday but will not need any imaging, as Lovullo said he is “fine” and could have kept playing if the score was tight.

Michael Soroka returns for Diamondbacks

Soroka returned from an eight-week IL stint with a left glute strain and pushed his pitch count to 77. He was as efficient as he’d like with three walks, but he shut out the Rockies for 4.1 innings and struck out four batters, three with his slurve.

He set a strong tone with a nine-pitch first inning, striking out lead-off man Jake McCarthy with a slurve bearing down-and-in on the lefty.

“Seeing these guys start to roll, I think you’ve really got a point to make when you come back to continue that for them,” Soroka said. “Obviously it was a hard-fought series with the Dodgers, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss a step today. … It’s good to feel that energy and be out there for them.”

Soroka was having his best season since making the All-Star Game in 2019 before the glute injury, as his ERA went down to 2.92 across 86.1 innings after Monday’s start.

He threw four innings and 57 pitches in his last rehab start for Triple-A Reno, and he will continue to push that count upward.

“We’d rather go a little deeper than tonight,” Soroka said. “That was on me, I let some at-bats drag on. They tried to give me every opportunity to finish that fifth. Next time, I think we’re pretty well full-go.”

Arizona’s sizable lead and need for bulk innings in relief led to the team debut of Zack Littell, a veteran swing man who signed with the club on Monday.

Littell saved the rest of the bullpen with 4.2 innings of relief off only 45 pitches.

His arrival could not have been better timed, and between Eduardo Rodriguez’s seven innings (on 115 pitches) on Sunday and Littell’s efficiency, Arizona’s bullpen has received a much-needed breather. This was the D-backs’ 11th straight day playing a game, and their next off day is on Thursday.

With the Diamondbacks’ offense going to sleep until the eighth inning, their highlight moments for most of the game were defensive. While the Rockies committed an error and let a run score on a wild pitch, the D-backs remained sharp.

Max Kepler made a sliding play going toward the foul line in left field. Ryan Waldschmidt made a leaping catch at the wall in center field. Perdomo delivered a leaping throw to second for a force out before leaving the game. And Ildemaro Vargas made a separate leaping throw to start a game-ending double play.

Arizona turned four double plays, a season high.

Wall-dy pic.twitter.com/GneddTzf98

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 11, 2026

“Those are the things that stand out to me,” Lovullo said. “Yes we won a game, but we kept on it and we did it the way we normally do it. We’ve got to keep getting after it.”

Beyond Arenado’s grand slam — his 18th home run of the season and 371st of his career, passing Hall of Famer Gil Hodges for 88th all-time — here were Arizona’s offensive standouts:

• Gabriel Moreno: 2-for-4, walk, double, triple
• Ketel Marte: 2-for-4, hit-by-pitch, double
• Ryan Waldschmidt: 2-for-3, walk

Monday attendance

17,358

Tuesday’s starters

Mitch Bratt (3.90 ERA) will start for the D-backs on Tuesday after beating out Kohl Drake for the final rotation spot as Soroka made his way back. The 23-year-old threw seven shutout innings in his last appearance against the San Diego Padres.

The Rockies will start 36-year-old right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (4.51 ERA).

First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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