PHOENIX — Michael Soroka was not quite as sharp on Saturday as he was in his Arizona Diamondbacks debut on Monday, but he remained effective to earn another victory for his new team.
Soroka fought through five innings with one earned run against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, capping his first homestand at Chase Field with 10 innings pitched, one earned run and 13 strikeouts.
He walked three batters in the first three innings but made enough pitches to hold the Braves to 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The one RBI knock, a single from Dom Smith, was on a pitch out of the strike zone.
“I think we fell behind a little more than we would have liked, but (catcher Gabriel Moreno) and I made some good decisions with some pitches late in counts, good pitches with guys in scoring position, let the defense work and got the win,” Soroka said.
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“I’ve competed as well as I could have hoped. I think that’s the big thing. You’re not going to have everything working on every day, and obviously the finish on pitches was a little bit better last time out.”
Ryne Nelson (2022) is the only other pitcher in club history to strike out 13 batters with one or no earned runs in his first 10 innings with the Diamondbacks, per Stathead.
The D-backs leaned on pitching and defense through the two-hour, 14-minute game. Three of Arizona’s last four games lasted less than two hours and 20 minutes, an indication of mostly solid pitching aside from Thursday and very little offensive help.
The bullpen tossed four perfect innings on Saturday, with Paul Sewald bouncing back from Friday’s loss with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Both teams combined for eight hits, and an error from Atlanta made the difference.
After singles from Moreno and Nolan Arenado in the second inning, Jose Fernandez — in his third career start — dropped a bunt down the third-base line.
Fernandez would likely have been safe anyway, but Braves starter Bryce Elder’s throw got by first baseman Matt Olson, scoring both runners. Arenado ran through a stop sign, thrown up given the arm strength of Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., but Arenado scored without a throw.
What can't Jose Fernandez do? pic.twitter.com/AU8pNdhY0V
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 4, 2026
“We knew he had it in his game,” manager Torey Lovullo said of Fernandez. “Just alert, knew the third baseman was back, turns into two runs and that’s the difference in the ballgame. So this was a much-needed win after a couple tough losses.”
Elder was otherwise great, throwing seven innings without an earned run, but the Diamondbacks’ defense put together another strong team performance to back the pitching staff that only struck out seven hitters.
Alek Thomas bumped into the center field wall to take a hit away in the second inning. Moreno threw out Acuña stealing. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo nearly made a diving catch, but the ball hit by Mauricio Dubon went through (or made) a hole in Perdomo’s glove.
Mauricio Dubón hit the ball so hard, he broke Geraldo Perdomo's glove! ?
?: FOX pic.twitter.com/Err3ZfNlIF
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 5, 2026
Paul Sewald bounces back for Diamondbacks
Taylor Clarke, Jonathan Loaisiga and Juan Morillo bridged the gap to Sewald, who entered the game after giving up back-to-back home runs in Friday’s 2-0 loss.
For Sewald, this was best-case scenario.
“When you pitch bad, the thing you want most is to get in there right away to get that out,” Sewald said. “There’s nothing worse than pitching poorly and then waiting four or five days to try to get back in there. So, I feel great about bounce back.”
Sewald had to face Ozzie Albies, who hit the first home run on Friday, again. Albies went deep on a Sewald fastball, so this time, Sewald threw sweepers on seven of eight pitches in the at-bat. It worked, as Albies struck out.
Sewald’s fastball velocity was noticeably down on Friday but shot back up to 92.3 mph on average Saturday.
He is 3-for-3 in save opportunities.
The Diamondbacks’ offense got very little going beyond the one inning, as Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Perdomo atop the order combined 0-for-8 with three strikeouts and a double play.
Moreno was the standout with two hits, while Fernandez showed some confidence and wherewithal to drop the bunt down on his own.
The Diamondbacks have scored five runs in the last four games.
What next for Michael Soroka and Merrill Kelly?
Merrill Kelly threw 72 pitches in five shutout innings for Triple-A Reno in a rehab start on Friday night. On Saturday, Lovullo said Kelly came out of it feeling good. Kelly is eligible to come off the injured list on Wednesday against the New York Mets.
The Diamondbacks have a five-man rotation without Kelly, and Soroka has bullpen experience. But he and Eduardo Rodriguez in particular have been as good as what could have been imagined to start the season. A tough choice has to be made soon.
Lovullo said a decision had not been made as of pregame on Saturday but that the situation was being discussed in another room at that very moment. After the game, Lovullo said he could provide an update on Kelly on Sunday, so this is a developing story for Arizona.
The Diamondbacks wrap up their series with Atlanta on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. MST with Brandon Pfaadt pitching for Arizona.
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