Twins pummel Ryne Nelson, blow out the Diamondbacks 8-3

It was a tough night for Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson. The Twins pummeled him for six runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings en route to blowing out Arizona 8-3 at Chase Field.

Much of the contact against Nelson was hard-hit, with nine of the 18 balls (50%) put into play against him having an exit velocity of 95 MPH or higher. On those nine batted balls the Twins had seven hits, four of them doubles.

The tough start comes on the heels of back-to-back wins against the Washington Nationals and the Chicago White Sox, in which Nelson allowed just two runs in 12 innings. This game served as a reminder of how tricky it is to develop young pitchers, who will occasionally turn in a clunker.

I think there were limited cutters that were sequenced in the game plan he was using,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on the television broadcast. “I think when he throws a certain number of cutters, he has good outings. He just never got a feel for it, he couldn’t get to it, and it probably wasn’t as effective pitch as it’s been in the past. That was probably the big difference in this outing compared to the last couple.”

According to Statcast, Nelson only threw six cutters on the night compared to 40 four-seam fastballs. The Twins swung at five of them, putting three into play. The results were a lineout and two doubles, all hit with an exit velocity of at least 99.0 MPH.

The Diamondbacks had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the first inning when Ketel Marte walked and Joc Pederson singled on a comebacker deflected by Simeon Woods Richardson. They ran themselves out of the inning, especially tough when considering Woods Richardson was struggling to throw strikes early when Pederson was thrown out at second on a double steal attempt. Christian Walker could not get the big two-out hit.

The Diamondbacks would not have another scoring opportunity until the fourth. Pederson reached to lead off the bottom of the fourth when a Woods Richardson pitch hit him. One out later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ripped a hanging curveball down the left field line. The ball took a hard carom off the wall in the left field corner, allowing Pederson to score and Gurriel to get to third on an RBI triple. However, they were unable to cash in on scoring a second run to get themselves back in the game.

Arizona plated two more in the sixth. Marte drew his second walk of the game and Walker doubled off the center field wall to end Woods Richardson’s night. A wild pitch followed by a sacrifice fly cut the Twins lead to five. They did not have another runner reach base after that point.

The Diamondbacks will have a chance to take the rubber game of the series Wednesday afternoon. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (6-4, 5.71 ERA) goes for Arizona, while Minnesota will call up David Festa to make his major league debut. Festa is replacing Chris Paddack, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder injury. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 12:40 P.M. MST.