The visiting Arizona Diamondbacks will turn to right-hander Ryne Nelson against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night as Arizona tries to bounce back from tough losses in the first two games of the series.
Nelson (6-3, 3.63 ERA) will oppose right-hander Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.44), who has won his past 10 decisions.
The Brewers won the second game of the series 9-8 on Tuesday night on Isaac Collins’ walk-off sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. The heroics came after Milwaukee blew an early six-run lead.
William Contreras and Brice Turang had two-run homers for the Brewers. Gabriel Moreno, who came off the 60-day injured list on Friday, had a three-run homer that ignited Arizona’s comeback, but it was for naught.
It was the 10th walk-off win this season for the Brewers, their most since 2022.
Milwaukee increased its lead in the National League Central to 6 1/2 games over the second-place Chicago Cubs, who lost at San Francisco 5-2.
“You have seven position players that were at Triple A this year out of 13,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after his team’s victory. “You want to talk about this team scrapping? Talk about the right people? And your leader, (Christian) Yelich, and your other leader Contreras, in his own right the way he plays every single day, those guys show up for you at the big time.”
Priester has won his past 10 decisions over his last 15 games, including 12 starts. The Brewers are 15-0 in those games. Priester’s 10 straight winning decisions tie Chris Bosio and Cal Eldred for the longest winning streak for a pitcher in franchise history.
Priester is 8-2 with a 3.01 ERA as a starter this season, and 3-0 with a 5.06 ERA out of the bullpen.
In his career, Priester is 0-1 against Arizona, with the loss coming on July 27, 2024, when he pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in four innings.
Turang, who has 15 homers for the season, leads the National League with nine homers in August. He is hitting .349 during the month, with six doubles and 23 RBIs.
Nelson has not won in six starts since his most recent victory on July 19. He is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts in August, allowing 14 runs in 23 1/3 innings. He lasted at least 5 1/3 innings in each of those starts and exited with the lead each time, but only one was a quality start.
That came in his most recent start when he allowed three runs in six innings but did not get the decision in a 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 11 innings on Friday.
Nelson’s only career start vs. Milwaukee came in 2023, when he allowed three runs in five innings but did not get a decision.
Corbin Carroll had two hits Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. He is hitting .333 over that span with four doubles, two triples, a homer and five RBIs.
Geraldo Perdomo tied the game Tuesday with a two-out double in the eighth. In 24 games in August, Perdomo is hitting .360 with three homers, five doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs.
“There’s no consolation,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “We want to win baseball games. That’s what we came here to do. We’re a good baseball team.”
–Field Level Media
