May 25, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

D-backs Give up 10 Runs in First Inning to Nationals, Tie NL Record

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Jack Sommers | Last updated May 31, 2025 11:08 PM ET

The spiraling Arizona Diamondbacks, losers of eight of their previous nine games, have reached a new low. Brandon Pfaadt allowed the first eight batters he faced to reach base on six hits and two hit by pitch. All eight of them scored.

Scott McGough relieved Pfaadt and gave up two hits and a hit batsman as well, before finally recording the first out of the inning. That brought down a thunderous mock cheer from the crowd at Chase Field. The Nationals scored 10 runs in the inning in total.

According to Sarah Langs this tied a National League record for first inning futility, and was only one run behind the post expansion era Red Sox record of 10 runs allowed in 2003

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

For the Diamondbacks it is another on a long list of devastating pitching and defense events that have plagued them all season long. Barring a comeback for the ages, Arizona will fall four games under .500 to 27-31, six games out of the NL Wild Card behind six other teams.

Pfaadt's ERA jumped to 5.05 after this outing, and is now perfectly in line with his 5.02 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). Throughout much of the season, the storyline for Pfaadt was that he'd been giving up hard contact, and his ERA was much lower than his peripherals would suggest. That is no longer the case.

Arizona came into the game ranked 25th in starting pitching ERA. That ranking will certainly drop further after this game. Where the team goes from here is anybody's guess. The drumbeat of people calling for manager Torey Lovullo's job has increased to a loud protest from the fan base. So far, General Manager Mike Hazen and President, CEO, and General Partner Derrick Hall have continued to give Lovullo votes of confidence. Time will tell how much longer that lasts.

This article first appeared on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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