Ryne Nelson plays stopper role for Diamondbacks in win over Giants

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ryne Nelson outdueled San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, playing the role of stopper in a 4-2 victory at Chase Field on Monday.

The Diamondbacks snapped a four-game losing streak after getting swept by the Miami Marlins and returned to .500 at 42-42. They also picked up a game on the Wild Card race (four games back) after fellow NL competitors Cincinnati, St. Louis and San Diego all lost on Monday.

Arizona is 4-0 in Nelson’s last four starts, a stretch in which he’s allowed four earned runs in 22.1 innings for an ERA of 1.63.

His pitching line on Monday was 6.2 innings, two earned runs, five hits and no walks. He also struck out seven batters (including Rafael Devers three times) and recorded 15 whiffs. His season ERA dropped to 3.61 after the outing.

Both runs were inherited after manager Torey Lovullo took Nelson out at 88 pitches in the seventh inning. Nelson had exceeded his pitch count, Lovullo explained, and Juan Morillo allowed the game-tying double to Tyler Fitzgerald.

Arizona bounced back, as Geraldo Perdomo dumped the go-ahead single in the bottom half off Webb, and Eugenio Suarez hit a solo shot in the eighth for insurance.

Shelby Miller recorded the four-out save, as Arizona moved to 3-1 against San Francisco this season by playing a pretty clean ballgame with solid pitching, defense and enough timely hitting.

Ryne Nelson deals vs. Giants

Nelson struck out six batters with two hits allowed through four innings, consistently challenging Giants hitters with high heat. Five of his first six strikeouts were capped with a four-seamer, which he leaned on more than usual on Monday at 70%.

“ I think that’s been the overall game plan lately is just to attack and feel how the at-bats go,” Nelson said. “But the most important thing is to get ahead of guys and control the count. If that’s with the fastball, it’s with the fastball. If it’s with something else that day, then we’ll reevaluate.”

He stranded a runner on second base in the fifth and recorded a 1-2-3 sixth inning, and the Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. solo shot in the bottom half.

Nelson started expanding his arsenal as the game progressed and he made adjustments.

“That’s who he is, he tries to establish the fastball and make quick outs,” catcher Jose Herrera said. “He gets a lot of swing-and-miss because the power of his fastball. That was not his focus. His focus is not to get swing-and-miss. It’s to get quick outs, and he was able to strike out people and get quick outs. He’s been great the whole season for us.”

Nelson had gone three straight starts without allowing multiple runs, and he seemed primed for another.

The seventh inning became precarious, as he allowed a one-out double to Dominic Smith and an infield single to Willy Adames. After Nelson induced a pop fly from Jung Hoo Lee, Lovullo came out with the hook.

Morillo entered, and one pitch later, Fitzgerald hit the game-tying double to center field with both runs charged to Nelson. Center fielder Alek Thomas nearly made an impossible catch, diving in the gap but coming up just short.

Nelson had set a season high for pitches, and after he started the year in the bullpen, the Diamondbacks have been careful to manage his workload.

“ Listen, trust me, I hated myself for doing it, too, but like I said, I gotta protect the athlete,” Lovullo said. “Once again, there’s things every athlete’s dealing with and he’s dealing with things.”

The irony was Lovullo had addressed the topic of leaving starters in games before first pitch. Lovullo and several D-backs players campaigned for Ketel Marte All-Star votes at a local Chick-fil-A on Monday, and Lovullo said he received advice from fans he talked to about how he should be leaving starters in longer.

This situation was more about Nelson’s health, but the timing of it all was incredible.

Diamondbacks work back

The Diamondbacks’ offense responded with three straight singles in the bottom half from Thomas, Herrera and Perdomo to chase Webb and retake the lead, 3-2.

“It was the same, same energy,” Perdomo said of the dugout after losing the lead. “ We’re always fighting.”

Webb tossed 6.1 innings with three earned runs and seven strikeouts. He entered this game 7-3 with a 2.31 ERA in 12 starts against the D-backs.

Fan interference situation

The Giants momentarily appeared to have tied the game again in the eighth on a deep fly ball by Christian Koss hit off John Curtiss, which ended up in the glove of a fan. The call on the field was fan interference and an out on the play after the fan seemed to have reached into the playing field to catch the ball.

After a review, the out call was overturned, although the ball was not going to leave the yard before it was interfered with. Koss was given second base, and the fan was escorted out of the section.

Fan interference or no? pic.twitter.com/EGZ9yHysLt

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 1, 2025

“It could have been worse,” Lovullo said. “I spent time on the phone trying to figure out exactly what was going on. … I clearly saw the ball went over (Tim Tawa’s) glove and they were gonna get awarded something. So I spent time on the phone figuring out if it was gonna be a home run or a double. We felt very strongly that it was gonna be a double, the ball would not have left the ballpark had that fan not reached over.”

“There’s no idea where the ball’s gonna go if it hits the fence like that,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “But yeah, he did reach over.”

There has been speculation online that this particular fan had interfered with games several times before. From a video produced by Jomboy Media, it sure looks like him in the same area, but that has yet to be confirmed.

This Diamondbacks fan has been involved in an umpire review in FOUR STRAIGHT seasons pic.twitter.com/wMCtKCAIqs

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 1, 2025

Bob Melvin ejected

Melvin was ejected from the game shortly after, although that had more to do with the strike zone.

Miller struck out San Francisco’s Heliot Ramos looking to end the eighth inning on a ball wide of the zone.

Bob Melvin was ejected between innings after arguing with the home plate umpire 😡 pic.twitter.com/CzDCYYqNgb

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 1, 2025

Geno goes yard again

Suarez’s insurance shot was his 26th home run of the season and 11th in June, which tied the MLB lead.

Suarez also collected his 900th career RBI.

Otra noche, otro juego… ¡otro HR de Eugenio Suárez! ¡Qué máquina! 🤖 pic.twitter.com/vZcENwpgyM

— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) July 1, 2025

Diamondbacks’ next game

The series continues on Tuesday with Zac Gallen (5.75 ERA) on the hill for Arizona against San Francisco’s Hayden Birdsong (4.13 ERA).

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

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