Ryan Waldschmidt singles in 1st major league at-bat, Diamondbacks lose to Mets in extras

PHOENIX — Ryan Waldschmidt lined a base hit in his first major league at-bat on Friday for the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose offense on the whole continued to struggle in a 3-1 loss in 10 innings to the New York Mets.

The D-backs have dropped seven of their last eight games, as the offense has scored three runs on 12 hits over its last three games.

Friday’s contest was a pitchers’ duel between Ryne Nelson and New York’s Nolan McLean, who combined for 12.2 innings with one earned run each.

The tight ballgame opened an opportunity for Waldschmidt to get a look in the eighth inning.

Ryan Waldschmidt singles in 1st major league at-bat

Waldschmidt came off the bench for designated hitter Adrian Del Castillo to face Mets southpaw Brooks Raley.

After taking a first-pitch strike, Waldschmidt lined a cutter to left field for a single.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Ryan Waldschmidt!"

The @Dbacks top prospect picks up his 1st MLB hit in at-bat No. 1. pic.twitter.com/tOUTTyeYR4

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 9, 2026

“I was in the cages getting ready, and the pitcher came in who we thought was going to come in … so I was already mentally pretty ready,” Waldschmidt said.

“Walking up to the plate, taking it all in, the fans were pretty loud and cheering for me. And their coach called a timeout, which I think really helped. I settled in a little bit, realized, calmed it down, made the moment back to normal. And once I saw the first pitch, it was just the game baseball again.”

His parents, Jeff and Suzan, and brother, Logan, were shown on the big screen cheering him on after traveling in, a moment Waldschmidt got to relive while back in the dugout.

“I was watching the swing back and the location of the pitch back on the iPad when I got back to the dugout,” Waldschmidt said. “And the second half of the video is just the broadcast. It panned to my family, they were all cheering. I ended up watching that back more times than I even watched the swing.”

His parents were in Louisiana to watch his brother, a pitcher at the University of New Orleans. Waldschmidt called them late Thursday night with the news, and Logan’s coach gave him the green light to join his parents for Ryan’s debut.

The Diamondbacks opted to keep Waldschmidt on the bench for his first game to get settled. The plan is for him to start in center field on Saturday against the Mets.

Ryan Waldschmidt got to see his family cheering for him when he rewatched his first at-bat in the dugout.

"I ended up watching that back more times than I even watched the swing." pic.twitter.com/VCISSyNQiR

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 9, 2026

Arizona selected Waldschmidt’s contract and designated outfielder Alek Thomas for assignment before Friday’s game.

Ryne Nelson was great vs. Mets

The other big positive for the D-backs despite the loss was Nelson, who said Friday was the best his arsenal felt collectively all season.

Nelson nearly completed seven dominant innings, finishing with 6.2 frames and one run on two hits. A two-out walk in the seventh ended his night, but he was efficient and effective attacking the zone with more cutters and two-seamers to balance his four-seamer a little bit.

“Just been working really hard, trying to lock in all the pitches and be able to just use them in an aggressive manner and fill up the strike zone and jump ahead of guys,” Nelson said. “So I feel like tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.”

His blemish was a solo shot from Mark Vientos in the second inning. From there, Nelson retired 17 of 18 batters.

After a couple rough pitching lines, Nelson has thrown back-to-back outings with one earned run.

On the other side, McLean plowed through six near-shutout innings, with Nolan Arenado’s solo home run the only damage done.

Diamondbacks’ offensive woes continue

As manager Torey Lovullo put it, two-thirds of the game went great for the D-backs: pitching and defense.

Arizona’s bats collected five hits and finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The best chance the Diamondbacks had was in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs against Luke Weaver, but Geraldo Perdomo bounced out in a brutal 0-for-5 performance.

“They’re just grinding right now, and that’s gonna come around,” Lovullo said. “They’re gonna have some opportunities to come up in the big moment. I want there to be the right guy that wants to step into that environment with runners on base and get that big, clutch two-out hit.”

Over the past seven days, the D-backs are dead last in MLB with a .171 team batting average. They are 29th in runs with 16 in six games, but nine of those were in one win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets took advantage with the ghost runner in the 10th inning, as Vientos and Carson Benge hit back-to-back doubles off Kevin Ginkel for the winning runs.

What happened to Ketel Marte?

Ketel Marte was scratched with an illness, and Lovullo said Marte was sent home sick. The D-backs will see how he feels in the morning, but Lovullo said for the time being, he was penciling his star second baseman into the lineup.

Star Wars Night

Merrill Kelly will take the hill on Saturday, while right-hander Clay Holmes will pitch for New York.

The season series sits at 2-2, with the Mets winning a pair of extra-inning games.

The game starts at 4:15 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app, and the first 25,000 fans will receive a Gabriel Moreno Mandalorian bobblehead. 

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