SAN FRANCISCO — Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly completed seven innings for the first time this season, allowing one earned run to pick up a 2-1 victory at the San Francisco Giants on Monday.
He had to battle to preserve the lead late, striking out Luis Matos and forcing a Christian Koss pop-up to end the seventh inning and strand two hitters.
“That’s the pitch I rely on if I’m in a tough spot,” Kelly said of his changeup to Matos. “Try to make something look like a fastball in the zone, something with some movement to get them off if not a swing and miss. Maybe a ground ball in that moment. Luckily I was able to put it in the right spot.”
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Kelly said he had some of his best stuff this season on Monday night. He struck out eight hitters, three of them looking at his sinker, and his changeup caused nine whiffs on 20 swings.
He mentioned making mechanical adjustments leading into this start, focusing on staying on line toward the plate and not flying open.
“ I would say I kept it glove side probably the best that I have,” Kelly said of the sinker. “Recently I’ve been cutting it off and yanking it or flying open and it’s been running back over the plate.
“I think the mechanical adjustments I was talking about helped me stay through the ball. … If I can keep it away, it’s a tough pitch to stay on.”
Merrill Kelly, Filthy Two Seamers. ? pic.twitter.com/dlArm5wjlY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 13, 2025
Kelly allowed eight hits, but seven of them were singles (five of which were ground balls and three went for infield hits). He retired eight in a row at one point.
The right-hander has a 3.71 ERA, but there is a glaring outlier as he allowed nine runs at Yankee Stadium in his second start. Take that one out, his ERA drops to 2.28.
“Anytime you put up two runs as an offense and win the game, that’s an incredible job by our pitching staff,” outfielder Corbin Carroll — whose two home runs made up the offense — said. “The job Merrill did going at guys, going deep in that game was great to see.”
Jalen Beeks had an adventurous eighth inning but got out of it unscathed, and Shelby Miller delivered a stress-free ninth inning for the save.
With the win, Kelly passed Patrick Corbin for fourth on the franchise’s all-time leaderboard for victories with 57. He is one back of Curt Schilling for third. Brandon Webb has a sizable lead in second with 87.
Zac Gallen is right behind Kelly with 55.
Merrill Kelly had some of his best stuff all year in Monday's win over the Giants. pic.twitter.com/fFDypWhosd
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 13, 2025
Diamondbacks defense makes game-changing plays
Manager Torey Lovullo was very happy with the work done behind the pitching staff along with Kelly’s performance.
The highlight play of the game came in the eighth inning. Beeks was in a battle with Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos, who racked up three singles off Kelly earlier. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Ramos womped a 111 mph liner to deep left field.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drifted back, leaped and recreated the Jumpman pose to haul in the catch, somersaulting to the ground.
“Very fast, a very hard connection,” Gurriel said via Spanish interpreter. “ Because it was so low, they have the tendencies to either start going down or rise.”
There was a runner on first at the time, so if that ball gets down, there is a decent shot the Giants tie the game right there with the winning run in scoring position.
Instead Beeks got through the frame.
AIR LOURDES ? pic.twitter.com/KGCT4fHefD
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025
The moment Lovullo was especially glowing about came in the fifth inning.
Koss hit an RBI single to right field with two outs, but the Diamondbacks executed their relay and caught Koss trying to take another bag.
“We won this game today because of Merrill, but there were some defensive plays behind him that were made,” Lovullo said. “One was a sneaky one. We ran a cut and relay perfectly. (Ketel) Marte rotated back to first base, and we got the final out of that inning on a rundown. That’s the type of stuff we look for.”
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo credits Merrill Kelly and his defense for shutting down the Giants on Monday night. pic.twitter.com/TDypglummS
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 13, 2025
Diamondbacks’ next game
The D-backs and Giants continue their series on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.
Brandon Pfaadt (3.28 ERA) will start for Arizona against Giants left-hander and former Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray (2.84 ERA).
Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
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