Diamondbacks’ offense stumped by Nationals for 2nd straight game

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks failed to break out of an offensive funk on Saturday, falling 6-1 to the Washington Nationals.

It was the Diamondbacks’ second straight game scoring just one run against the Nationals, this time posting just two hits compared to Friday’s six. Both of the hits came in the fifth inning, as infielder LuJames Groover logged his first MLB hit and RBI.

Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll combined to go 0-for-7 at the plate, with Carroll providing a walk. They were followed in the lineup by Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Arenado, who also combined to go 0-for-7.

“I didn’t think that would be the outcome of the game today,” manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “I think we’re better than two hits, that’s for sure. So when you grind down pitchers, when you get in the swing counts, hit good hitting counts, you got to impact the baseball, put runners on base. That’s the name of the game.

“And we just have not had the ability to do that over over the past couple of games.”

The Diamondbacks’ opponents have scored first in 12 straight games now. Lovullo said that can feed into a loss of energy from the players, but he also said the offense is capable of overcoming any deficit.

In this instance, Washington (33-32) got enough runs across to be the difference before Arizona (33-31) could record an out.

James Wood singled, Curtis Mead hit a home run and Andres Chaparro walked before Eduardo Rodriguez got his first out, already trailing 2-0. Only one of the next 27 batters from both teams reached base (a Nationals single) as Rodriguez and Zack Littell were engaged in a pitchers’ duel.

While he wasn’t getting the run support, Rodriguez got quite a bit of help from his outfielders on defense, including a sliding Corbin Carroll grab and this standout dive by Tommy Troy:

Tommy Troy, are you serious??! pic.twitter.com/Ba7Of2q5uU

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 6, 2026

This was just the fourth time this season (13 starts) that Rodriguez has given up more than two earned runs; he is yet to give up more than four in any start. He was tagged for six hits and the early walk.

Rodriguez (6.1 innings pitched) outlasted Littell (5.0), but the latter had the benefit of the win and three fewer runs. With the four earned runs on Saturday, Rodriguez’s ERA dropped from 2.24 (sixth in majors) to 2.52 (eighth).

Diamondbacks’ next game

Arizona will finish its series against Washington on Sunday with Michael Soroka (3.49 ERA) looking to bounce back from his last start, in which he gave up four earned runs (his most since eight runs allowed on April 30). Between the two rough outings, he had a 1.78 ERA (five starts).

Soroka will face Cade Cavalli (3.62 ERA), who hasn’t surrendered more than three earned runs in a start since April 13 (four runs in 1.1 innings).

First pitch will be at 12:15 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.

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