Eduardo Rodriguez nearly earns complete game in win vs. Mets, Ryan Waldschmidt drives in 3
Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez dominated the Mets through 8.1 innings on Sunday, continuing a bounce-back season for Arizona.
Watch: Brandon Pfaadt continues to dominate in critical D-backs win against Padres | 8 mins
PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez made a deal after the eighth inning of Rodriguez’s gem during a 5-1 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Rodriguez had thrown 91 pitches and held the Mets to one run, so he asked to go back out for 10 more pitches to try and earn his first career complete game.
Lovullo obliged.
A strikeout and a bloop single later, Lovullo predictably heard the ire of booing fans at Chase Field as he collected the baseball from Rodriguez at 100 pitches, and Rodriguez received a standing ovation for a series-clinching performance.
The Diamondbacks (19-20) won a series for the first time since April 19, holding the Mets to five runs over three games.
“He already knows how I am. I never want to come out of the game,” Rodriguez said. “He did what I asked and I did what he asked me.”
“I didn’t want him to throw 110 pitches, I didn’t want him to throw 105 pitches,” Lovullo said. “I want to preserve these guys. I want to make sure that they’re good today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year. … Unfortunately, he couldn’t get that complete game.”
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Rodriguez has thrown at least seven innings in back-to-back starts for the first time since he arrived in Arizona, last doing so in 2023 with the Detroit Tigers.
His ERA dropped to 2.25 through eight starts this season. Exactly one year ago, Rodriguez sported a 6.86 ERA through eight starts.
“He’s in attack mode from pitch No. 1 of the game with all of his pitches,” catcher James McCann said. “He’s doing just a really nice job of keeping hitters off-balance.”
Rodriguez did not allow a hit through five innings of work. His efficiency kept the game rolling, as Rodriguez threw 27 pitches in three innings and 46 pitches through five.
New York’s Carson Benge ended the no-hit bid on a floater to center field with one out in the sixth inning, and Luis Torrens ended the shutout with an RBI double.
Rodriguez ended up with four hits allowed, four strikeouts and three walks, working quick at-bats and drawing weak contact for most of the game.
He was excited about pitching deeper into a ballgame than he had at any point in his 11-year carer.
Rodriguez did so with the names of his mother and wife, Magales and Catherine, written on his hat for Mother’s Day.
“That was perfect, especially the longest game in my career and I had them on my hat. Can’t be better than that,” Rodriguez said.
Ryan Waldschmidt drives in 3 runs
Left fielder Ryan Waldschmidt, in his second major league start, was the standout offensively.
The top prospect recorded his first three career RBIs on two hits.
Waldschmidt walloped a double to the deepest part of the ballpark in left-center field to give the D-backs a 2-0 lead in the second inning, his first MLB extra-base hit. That drive would have been a home run in 15 ballparks, according to Statcast, as it traveled a projected 404 feet.
In the sixth inning, with two outs, Waldschmidt flared a single to center field to bring home Arizona’s third run, and Ketel Marte poured on with a two-run triple to take a 5-1 lead.
The double was off right-hander Tobias Myers, while the single dropped against lefty David Peterson.
Ryan Waldschmidt collects his first two career RBI and gives the @Dbacks an early lead! pic.twitter.com/52jJx1NpF0
— MLB (@MLB) May 10, 2026
Additionally, Waldschmidt made a leaping catch in the fifth inning, banging into the wall to rob Mark Vientos of New York’s first hit.
“I saw it come off the bat, and obviously we’re in the fifth inning, he was still throwing a no-hitter at this point,” Waldschmidt said. “I knew I was getting close to the fence, but I was going to do whatever I could to catch that ball.”
“Bro, that was a sick play,” Rodriguez told him.
Ryan Waldschmidt crashes into the wall after making a nice leaping grab 😤 pic.twitter.com/h2OsGbta4Q
— MLB (@MLB) May 10, 2026
Between his MLB debut on Friday, first start on Saturday, first hits and a series win in front of family and friends who traveled in, this was quite the introductory weekend for the 23-year-old.
“It just means the world that they were able to be here with me and just experience the same things as me here,” Waldschmidt said.
When was the last time a Diamondbacks pitcher threw a complete game?
The last D-backs pitcher to complete nine innings in a game was Brandon Pfaadt last season, although Arizona lost in 11 innings to the San Francisco Giants.
Arizona’s most recent complete game came from Zac Gallen in 2023 at Wrigley Field. The last complete game from Diamondbacks pitching at Chase Field was Tyler Gilbert’s no-hitter in 2021.
The Diamondbacks’ rotation was spectacular this week at Chase Field.
The group threw six-plus innings in every start during the six-game homestand, and five of the six outings were quality starts (six-plus innings, three or fewer earned runs).
With 41.1 innings and eight earned runs, the rotation worked a 1.74 ERA this week.
“That’s huge, especially when our offense isn’t really clicking on all cylinders right now,” McCann said. “They’ve done a heck of a job keeping us in games and giving us a chance to try and get going.”
Hitting the road
The D-backs begin a six-game road trip on Monday when they take on the Texas Rangers. The second leg will be at Coors Field against the Rockies.
Diamondbacks-Rangers probables:
Monday: RHP Michael Soroka (4-2, 4.14) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-4, 4.15)
Tuesday: RHP Zac Gallen (1-3, 4.70) vs. LHP MacKenzie Gore (2-3, 5.18)
Wednesday: RHP Ryne Nelson (1-3, 5.68) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (1-4, 5.01)
Monday’s game starts at 5:05 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
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Comments
25 Comments
My Goodness TL is going to ruin these guys Confidence by being so ridiculously cautious!!
All the good Pitchers of yesteryear must be laughing at all this pitch management garage.. Cause that’s what it is, just garbage! RJ, Nolan, Pedro, Schill, Maddox, Clemsons etc, all had way higher pitch counts!! Big big time!! And no, this current load mgmt is not backed up by anyone except agents who’ve convinced coaches that this is the way to get more! And it’s the opposite!
If a players word about his body can’t be trusted, what do ya got?? Jack is the answer!
TL is so clearly a manager that is afraid to lose, instead of one who is expecting and managing to win!!
Coaching outta fear like this, creates the very problem that’s trying to be avoided! Cause all your saying, is a blown arm could be one pitch away!! These players need to be empowered with confidence! Not handled like a piece of fragile glass!!
“We think it’s gonna be okay” lol
No sir, these decisions don't come from Torey. We've known this. He blatantly told us last season. Hazen's office sets limits. If that limit is reached, it's a hard pull. TL risks his job not following that.
Also, it's really only you and other fans that get upset about the pull. Yes, everyone who saw the game, was in that stadium, and played for both teams knew E-Rod could wrap that game up. However, there is no award, no stat, no big accomplishment for it. So why risk it?
I think people need to really start looking at TL and MH as comanagers and co-GMs. They are best friends. They lean on each other for EVERYTHING. They run the team together AND manage the team together. For that reason, I don't think Hazen deserves another shot if we move on from TL. I think based on Hazen's work relationships, he has chosen to ride it out with TL because I know he knows he won't get another complacent right hand man like TL. Who else would do it? How often does a best friend come along who is lock step with EVERYTHING you do, baseball AND life?
So every time we criticize TL or MH, we need to understand we are criticizing BOTH of them and not just one of them.
EDIT: I thought about this more and I had been thinking about this for awhile because I do think that the D-Backs have a unique relationship with front office, management, and players. I think every single pitcher has a yank limit. I think it's negotiated by all parties AND training staff. I think training staff says "no more than X" and then management/coaches negotiate with players/agents. It's not necessarily contractual, but it's understood between them, at least I believe. Why I think this: zero player pushback on early or late pulls. Absolutely none. In fact, they all defend their managers. I've seen frustration from it, but in interviews after the game it's always "yea I knew he had to". Ketel Marte's days off. I really believe those are negotiated. This is how I understand the D-Backs, a sort of cohesion of agreements and understandings between the management, coaches, and players. It works in a weird way, but I can see how people don't like it because it's completely different from other sports teams. There almost seems like no authority here. However, that's when the DFA's start coming and you do remember they aren't the same lmao....
In terms of the E-Rod pull, if he had a shut out or no hitter or perfect on the line, yes he stays in even passed the negotiated pitch limit. Maybe not shut out, however those are a nice stat in the book. But he gave up 4 hits and 3 walks with a run, there's nothing to gain there other than a potential injury on a pitcher who hasn't been the healthiest with us, hasn't pitched the greatest before this year, AND is playing on a long year because of the WBC.
I have stopped watching postgame interviews with TL. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard. Make it stop.