Nelson retires first 16 Royals, Carroll returns in Diamondbacks’ 7-1 victory

PHOENIX (AP) — Ryne Nelson retired the first 16 Kansas City batters and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Royals 7-1 on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak.

Nelson (5-2), who moved into the rotation full-time when Corbin Burnes was sidelined for the season by elbow surgery, gave up four hits and one run over seven innings. The right-hander threw 86 pitches, walked none and struck out five.

Freddy Fermin’s sharp single to center with one out in the sixth ended Nelson’s perfect-game bid. Fermin scored on Bobby Witt Jr.’s two-out single.

Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez had RBI singles in the third off Michael Wacha (4-9), and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled in two runs in the fifth for Arizona. Gurriel also tripled in the seventh off Taylor Clarke and scored on James McCann’s double.

Wacha lasted four-plus innings, giving up four hits and four runs. He threw 97 pitches, walking four and striking out four.

Randal Grichuk hit an inside-the-park homer in the eighth. With a man on base, he hit a long fly to right-center that bounced away from outfielders Jac Caglianone and Kyle Isbel and into center field as Grichuk scored standing up for his fifth homer of the season.

Before the game, the Diamondbacks activated outfielder Corbin Carroll from the injured list. The 2023 National League Rookie of the Year, who has 20 homers and a major league-leading nine triples, was 0 for 5 in his return. He had been sidelined since June 18, when he sustained a chip fracture in his left wrist when he was hit by a pitch in Toronto.

Utilityman Tim Tawa was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.

Key moment

Gurriel’s two-out, two-run double off reliever John Schreiber made it 4-0 in the fifth.

Key stat

Nelson is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his last five starts.

Up next

Royals RHP Michael Lorenzen (4-8, 4.95) opposes Diamondbacks RHP Anthony DeSclafani (0-0, 4.82) on Sunday the series finale.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/ml