Ryne Nelson pulled after 2 innings with right elbow contusion

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ryne Nelson exited a 5-0 series-opening loss to the San Francisco Giants after a ball came back to hit his throwing arm at Oracle Park.

On the second inning’s final out, Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski connected with a pitch, sending the ball right back at Nelson. The ball ricocheted off of Nelson’s throwing arm, but Nelson was able to finish fielding the ball to complete the out.

The team later said that it was a right elbow contusion for Nelson. He left the game after 27 pitches.

“It’s a little stiff right now,” Nelson said after Arizona’s 5-0 loss. “It doesn’t feel too great. Got hit right in the sweet spot, right on the elbow. So we’re just going to see how it feels tomorrow in the morning. Give it some rest and we’ll know more tomorrow.”

The ball left Mike Yastrzemski’s bat at 87 mph. Nelson recovered to field the ball and throw out Yastrzemski at first base, ending the inning. But the pitcher grimaced and held his right forearm as he walked back to the dugout.

“He’s a really tough kid,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said, who added that X-rays on Nelson were negative. “I saw what was going on underneath there and he was trying to grind it out. I made the decision that it was time to take him off the field. There was no way I was going to put him back out there.”

Logan Allen took over to begin the top of the third inning. It marked Allen’s first career appearance for the Diamondbacks, and his first MLB outing since May 15, 2022.

On his second pitch, Giants’ Patrick Bailey hit a double. A few pitches later, Jung Hoo Lee reached on an infield single that could’ve been ruled an error on shortstop Jace Peterson, leaving runners on the corners.

Then a sac fly brought in the Giants’ first run and Jorge Soler followed with a true single, again leaving the Giants with runners on the corners.

Allen was able to stop the bleeding, as Michael Conforto grounded out on the next at-bat.

After the third inning troubles, Allen went on to have a great showing, allowing just three hits, one walk and the one run on 58 pitches in 4.2 innings.

The D-backs’ bullpen gave up four more runs in the final frames as Arizona’s bats were shut out.

Arizona expects starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery to make his team debut when the series continues Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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