D-backs' Offense Stalls in Split Squad Loss to Guardians

The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped the first of a pair of split squad games in Goodyear against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday by a score of 4-0.

Right-hander Ryne Nelson made his first start of the Cactus League. Though he'd already thrown two scoreless innings in relief, this was his first official start.

Nelson struggled a bit with consistency of both velocity and command, but still managed to turn in a solid 2.1 innings of work, allowing three hits and striking out three.

He threw 51 pitches, 30 for strikes, and his four-seam logged velocities ranging from 91.2 MPH to just under 95 MPH, a touch down from his normal numbers.

But his only true blemish came on a slider that caught a bit too much of the plate, as Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor - the brother of D-backs' Josh Naylor - launched a solo homer to right field.

Right-hander Gerardo Gutierrez replaced Nelson with one out in the third inning, and quickly gave up a walk, then hit a batter before Naylor got his second homer of the night, a three-run blast on a changeup outside the zone to make it 4-0.

It was a big night for the Naylor brothers, as Josh Naylor had a 2-for-3 night for the D-backs at Salt River Fields simultaneously, while all four of the Guardians' runs were knocked in by Bo Naylor.

From there, offense was tough to come by for either team. The D-backs put up just five base hits and zero runs. The one notable highlight was a double by infielder Trey Mancini off Guardians' All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase on a cutter way down and inside.

The early 4-0 score held up, however, the rest of Arizona's bullpen kept Cleveland down for the most part.

D-backs' No. 12 prospect, right-hander Cristian Mena, put out an excellent pair of scoreless innings, with just one hit allowed and a trio of strikeouts.

His four-seam fastball sat around the 95 MPH mark for most of his outing, up nearly two MPH from 2024's average. For an arm whose sticking point thus far in his career has been a poor fastball, an uptick in velocity could be an encouraging sign of growth.

Right-hander Christian Montes De Oca went 1.2 scoreless innings with one hit allowed and three punchouts of his own. Righty Juan Morillo threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts with no baserunners.

The Diamondbacks will be back in action on Friday in Tempe, taking on the Los Angeles Angels at 1:10 p.m.