Worst start ever? Diamondbacks allow 9 runs before recording an out

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks endured the worst start to a game the franchise has ever experienced on Saturday against the Washington Nationals, as they allowed 10 runs in the first inning.

The D-backs surrendered nine runs before recording a single out, as the first 11 batters of the game reached base.

Starter Brandon Pfaadt became the first pitcher in franchise history to allow eight earned runs without recording a single out, according to Stathead, as manager Torey Lovullo went to go get his starter eight batters into the game.

Pfaadt’s plate appearances went: hit-by-pitch, single, double, double, hit-by-pitch, single, double, double. His outfielders did not do him any favors by taking poor routes to ground balls and failing to cut them off before they rolled to the wall.

Reliever Scott McGough entered the game and allowed an inherited runner to score, plus two more earned runs. McGough hit a third batter, as Nationals lead-off man CJ Abrams was beaned twice.

CJ Abrams became just the 8th player since 1969 to be hit by two pitches in the same inning. He is the first in franchise history (MON/WSH) to do so.

Only Abrams and Baltimore's Brady Anderson (May 23, 1999) were hit by two pitches in the first inning.

— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) June 1, 2025

When McGough struck out Nathaniel Lowe for the first out of the game, the crowd at Chase Field — busy for Geraldo Perdomo bobblehead night — erupted. That may have been the loudest the ballpark has sounded since the opening week.

The inning mercifully ended after 16 batters walked up to the plate and nine hits were recorded. The Diamondbacks needed 60 pitches to end it.

Nine runs scored by Washington before a recorded out are the second-most of the expansion era (1961), only trailing the 2003 Boston Red Sox (10), per MLB researcher Sarah Langs. It also tied the National League record.

The Nationals’ 9 runs before recording an out are 2nd-most before a team’s first out of game in the expansion era (1961), behind the Red Sox 10 on 6/27/03, which is the MLB record

9 ties the NL record, previously done by the Phillies on 8/13/1948

h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/aj9N68QyXJ

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 1, 2025

Pfaadt’s ERA climbed from 3.90 to 5.05.

The Diamondbacks entered Saturday on a three-game losing streak and having lost eight of the last nine games. That first inning was the low point of this stretch and this season.

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