Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly shut out the Atlanta Braves through seven innings, and the bullpen hung on for dear life in a 2-1 series-clinching victory on Wednesday night.
Kelly allowed only one hit, as he no-hit the Braves through 5.2 innings before Ronald Acuña Jr. ended his quest for history with a single. He struck out eight hitters and only walked one, totaling 98 pitches.
Wednesday offered quite a pitchers’ duel, as Braves ace Chris Sale struck out 10 Diamondbacks through six innings and allowed one run. The two starters combined for four hits and 18 strikeouts after rain delayed first pitch by over an hour.
RELATED STORIES
Zac Gallen, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte dominate Braves to kick off series
Corbin Burnes placed on IL, D-backs call up Tommy Henry
The Diamondbacks were in real jeopardy of blowing a win for Kelly. Ryan Thompson allowed two singles and a stolen base to put runners on second and third with no outs in the eighth with a 1-0 lead.
Thompson struck out Drake Baldwin, and the D-backs turned to Justin Martinez to save them. Martinez struck out Michael Harris II, and after an intentional walk to Acuña, he punched out Austin Riley to end the threat.
Ketel Marte drove in an insurance run in the ninth with an RBI single off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, which proved to be massive.
Martinez walked in a run in the bottom half, but he struck out Harris again to strand the bases loaded and lock in a third straight win. He threw 20 balls and 17 strikes, but a save is a save.
The last time Arizona (30-31) won three straight games was April 12-17, and it has a chance to sweep Atlanta (27-33) on Thursday.
Merrill Kelly gets halfway through a no-hitter
Kelly on Wednesday became the first pitcher in MLB this season to make two starts with seven shutout innings and one or fewer hits allowed, per Stathead. His previous seven-shutout-inning gem was on May 18 against the Colorado Rockies.
The Diamondbacks have received back-to-back starts with seven innings pitched for the first time this year, as well, as Zac Gallen tossed seven frames with one earned run in Tuesday’s 8-3 win. With Corbin Burnes on the shelf for an uncertain timeframe, Arizona having its two horses who led them to the 2023 World Series stack excellent starts is a way the rotation can remain competitive.
Kelly used only 44 pitches to plow through a perfect first four innings, even while striking out six of 12 hitters faced.
The Braves made him work in the fifth, as Marcell Ozuna worked a lead-off walk for their first base runner. Kelly threw 21 pitches in the inning but stranded a runner on first base without surrendering a hit.
After swiftly retiring the first two batters of the sixth, Kelly left a 1-2 sinker over the plate to Acuña, who smoked it up the middle. Kelly then retired the final four hitters of his outing.
Zooming out, the Braves finished 1-for-22 against Kelly. His changeup was elite, drawing eight whiffs on 18 swings, and he painted the edges masterfully.
Merrill Kelly, Nasty 87mph Changeup. ?
7th K thru 5…and ? pic.twitter.com/nGUsTyZBue
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 5, 2025
Kelly has flirted with a no-no before, taking one into the seventh inning in both 2020 and 2023.
The Diamondbacks have no-hit the Braves twice before, sort of. That’s whom Randy Johnson faced when he threw a perfect game on May 18, 2004. In 2021, Madison Bumgarner threw an unofficial no-hitter in a seven-inning game in Atlanta.
Kelly entered Wednesday having allowed eight runs over his last 11 innings after an eight-game stretch in which his ERA was 2.02. His season ERA dropped to 3.43 on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks’ offense made Sale labor with four walks and a pitch count that elevated to 103 through six innings.
They did not do much else against the defending NL Cy Young winner, only racking up three hits. One of those knocks gave Arizona the lead, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. delivered an RBI single to score Geraldo Perdomo, who led off the third inning with a walk.
Diamondbacks’ next game
The Diamondbacks have a quick turnaround on Thursday with first pitch in the finale at 9:15 a.m.
Brandon Pfaadt (5.05 ERA) will match up with Braves right-handed starter Grant Holmes (3.78 ERA).
Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
Follow @alexjweiner
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Merrill Kelly masterful vs. Braves, Justin Martinez holds on for series-clincher )
Also on site :