Kelly (6-3) allowed one run on four hits and two walks over 6.1 frames Sunday, striking out 10 and earning a win over the Red Sox.
Kelly was dominant Sunday, cruising through six shutout frames to begin the contest. He left two runners on base in the seventh and was charged with a run when one came around to score. The 34-year-old righty has won five straight decisions dating back to April 28; during that stretch, he's posted an impressive 44:8 K:BB and 2.41 ERA through 37.1 innings. Kelly will carry a 2.83 ERA into his next start, which is currently lined up to be at home against Atlanta.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Notches fifth win
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Kelly (5-3) earned the win Sunday, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks over five innings against the Pirates. He struck out four.
It wasn't Kelly's most efficient outing, but he did enough to earn the win -- his fourth in his last five starts. The 34-year-old right-hander has a solid 2.98 ERA. 1.08 WHIP and 59:23 K:BB through 10 starts (57.1 innings) this season. Kelly will look to keep his winning streak going in his next start, tentatively scheduled for next week against the Red Sox.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Settles for no-decision Wednesday
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Kelly didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Marlins, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out six.
The right-hander tossed 61 of 97 pitches for strikes as he gave Arizona at least six innings for the fifth time in his last six starts, but Kelly exited with the game tied 4-4, giving him no shot at his fourth win. He'll take a 3.18 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 46:20 K:BB through 45.1 innings into his next outing, likely to come early next week in Oakland.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Notches third win of season
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Kelly (3-3) earned the win Friday, allowing one run on four hits and one walk over seven innings against the Nationals. He struck out 10.
Kelly has now allowed just one run in three of his last four starts. The right-hander had his best start of the year Friday, setting season highs in innings and strikeouts. The 34-year-old veteran is tentatively slated to face the Marlins at home in his next start.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Notches second win of season
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Kelly (2-3) earned the win Friday, allowing one run on six hits and one walk over six innings against Colorado. He struck out five.
Kelly has been consistently pitching deep into games, tossing six innings in three of his last four starts. The right-hander's losing record is deceiving, as his only shaky outing was on April 22 against San Diego, when he gave up four runs over five innings. Overall this year, Kelly has a 3.06 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 30:18 K:BB in 32.1 frames.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Struggles to find strike zone
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Kelly (1-3) took the loss against San Diego on Saturday, pitching five innings and allowing four runs on three hits and five walks while striking out seven batters over five innings.
The headlines may highlight Fernando Tatis hitting his first homer of the year off Kelly in the first inning, but the hurler's lack of control was just as critical to his subpar performance. Kelly threw only 54 of 94 pitches for strikes and issued a season-high five free passes after walking four batters in each of his first three starts. The right-hander's previous trip to the mound was promising in that he earned his first win of the campaign and didn't walk any batters, but Kelly was right back to his wild ways Saturday. He's still posted a respectable 3.42 ERA on the season, but Kelly is tied for the league lead with 17 walks across 26.1 frames.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Earns win after quality start
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Kelly (1-2) earned the win Monday, allowing one run on five hits and zero walks over six innings during a 6-3 victory over the Cardinals. He struck out three.
Kelly posted five scoreless frames to start the game before serving up an RBI double to Willson Contreras in the bottom of the six, which tied the game at 1-1. However, following a mound visit, the right-hander struck out Nolan Arenado to end the inning and was in line for the win after Arizona reclaimed the lead with five runs in the top of the seventh. Through four starts (21.1 innings), Kelly has a 2.53 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP with a 18:12 K:BB.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Crumbles in seventh inning
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Kelly dropped to 0-2 on the season after surrendering three earned runs on one hit and four walks over six innings in Tuesday's 7-1 loss to the Brewers. He struck out seven in the 98-pitch outing.
Though Kelly ultimately came through with his second quality start in three outings on the season, fantasy managers might have been disappointed with his final line based on how magnificent he was the first two times he navigated the Milwaukee batting order. Kelly and Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes were in the midst of a pitcher's duel through the first six innings before the former stepped back on the mound in the top of the seventh with a no-hitter still intact. Willy Adames spoiled Kelly's bid with a 407-foot home run to begin the frame, and the right-hander walked the next two batters before he was pulled from the contest. Reliever Miguel Castro proceeded to let both inherited runners score, resulting in Kelly's ERA moving up to 4.11 through 15.1 innings this season.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Takes loss Thursday
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Kelly (0-1) took the loss against the Dodgers on Thursday, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out four batters.
Kelly made it through the first inning without allowing any baserunners, but Los Angeles put up three runs against him in the following two frames. The right-hander faced the minimum six batters across the subsequent pair of innings, but he was pulled with two outs in the sixth after allowing another run on a pair of hits and a walk. Kelly has struggled with his control in the early part of the campaign, issuing eight walks over his first 9.1 innings.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Runs out of gas early Friday
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Kelly didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 2-1 win over the Dodgers, allowing three hits and four walks over 3.2 scoreless innings while striking out four.
The right-hander lasted only 74 pitches in his first start of the season, tossing 42 of them for strikes with 12 swinging strikes, but rookie Drey Jameson took the baton in relief of Kelly and supplied four strong innings of his own to record the win. Considering Kelly threw over 200 innings last year for the first time, managing his workload early in 2023 is justified. The 34-year-old should be ready for a higher pitch count in his next outing, which is likely to be a rematch with Los Angeles next week at Chase Field.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Starting Wednesday for USA
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Kelly will start Wednesday against Colombia for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
It was originally reported Miles Mikolas would start Wednesday's game, but instead it will be Kelly on the bump in a must-win game for the United States. Mikolas will instead piggyback with Lance Lynn against Canada on Monday, per Katie Woo of The Athletic.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Adding new pitch
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Kelly is experimenting with a slider this spring, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
Kelly used the new pitch six times. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo believes Kelly's existing repertoire works but thinks the slider could be another option to get early-count outs or swing-and-miss strikes against right-handed hitters. "I think good pitchers and good players are always making adjustments. It was definitely something he brought into camp. He embraced it. We're going to watch him continue to work on it," the manager said. Kelly's existing arsenal consists of four-seam and two-seam fastballs, a curveball, a changeup and a cutter.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Makes spring debut before WBC
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Kelly allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out two over 2.1 innings in Friday's spring start against the Mariners.
Kelly made his Cactus League debut and only start before heading off to the World Baseball Classic. He was scheduled to throw three innings or 45 pitches but was pulled after 34 pitches and 1.1 innings. This being spring training, he was allowed to come back in the third inning and retired Seattle's 2-3-4 hitters on 11 pitches. Kelly's coming off his best MLB season in 2022 as he limited walks and long balls, but at age 34, he could be due for age-related decline in 2023.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Quality start in Milwaukee
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Kelly did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing one run on four hits and two walks over six innings in a 4-2 victory over the Brewers. He struck out seven.
Kelly allowed only one extra-base hit in the form of a double from Victor Caratini and allowed his only run on an RBI groundout to tie the game in the fifth inning. The righty had struggled in the seven starts prior to this one, posting a 5.32 ERA over 44 innings. Still, it was a strong season for the 33-year-old, who finished with a 3.37 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 177:61 K:BB across 200.1 innings.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Hit hard Friday
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Kelly (13-8) allowed eight runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out two over 4.2 innings, taking the loss Friday versus the Giants.
Evan Longoria took Kelly deep twice and Mike Yastrzemski added a home run and an RBI double, accounting for seven of the eight runs Kelly yielded. The eight runs allowed matched Kelly's season high from May 17 versus the Dodgers. Outings like this have been rare for the right-hander, who still has a 3.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 170:59 K:BB through 194.1 innings across 32 starts. He's projected for one more start in 2022, which would be in Milwaukee next week.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Shooting for 200 innings
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Kelly is expected to get two more starts over the final nine games of the season, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
Kelly fired seven innings Saturday, boosting his count to 189.2 for the season. He has a personal goal of reaching 200 innings, which was in jeopardy when manager Torey Lovullo went to a six-man rotation in September. However, following the game, Lovullo all but assured reporters that Kelly would get that chance. That suggests Kelly's schedule will be Friday at San Francisco followed by the season finale at Milwaukee on Oct. 5.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Goes seven innings in win
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Kelly (13-7) earned the win during Saturday's 5-2 victory over San Francisco, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts in seven innings.
Kelly surrendered one run in the fourth inning to fall behind, but Arizona responded with all five runs in the bottom of the frame to halt his losing streak at two games. The 33-year-old fired 65 of 93 pitches for strikes with 13 of the swinging variety en route to notching six strikeouts for the third straight start and eighth time in his last nine turns. Kelly's ERA has risen from 2.86 to 3.13 during the stretch, though he's recorded 59 strikeouts in 57.1 innings compared to an 8.0 K/9 on the season.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Done in by Dodgers again
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Kelly (12-7) took the loss against the Dodgers on Monday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out seven batters over six innings.
Kelly managed to finish six frames for the sixth time in his past seven starts but couldn't end his woes against Los Angeles. The right-hander gave up a solo homer to Joey Gallo in the second inning and a three-run shot to Chris Taylor in the fourth to account for most of the damage against him. Kelly has a solid 3.15 ERA on the season, but against the Dodgers he's 0-5 with a 9.00 ERA over 22 innings across five starts.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Erratic in loss
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Kelly (12-6) took the loss during Tuesday's 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Dodgers, allowing three runs on five hits and five walks with eight strikeouts in five innings.
Kelly struggled with his control, firing only 50 of 96 pitches for strikes, but he was still able to induce a healthy nine swinging strikes en route to tying a season-best eight strikeouts. The 33-year-old also issued a season-high five walks; however, none came around to score as all three runs were the result of Joey Gallo and Freddie Freeman long balls. That's now consecutive subpar outings for Kelly, who's surrendered seven runs across 12 innings in his last two turns.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Denied win Tuesday
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Kelly took a no-decision Tuesday, allowing four runs on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts over seven innings.
Kelly was perfect through four innings, but the Padres tagged him for two home runs in the fifth. He gave up another solo shot in the seventh, but it wasn't until Ian Kennedy blew the save in the ninth that Kelly was out of contention for the win. The right-handed starter had allowed just 10 homers through his first 27 starts this year, so this was an unusual struggle with the long ball. He still has a steady 2.94 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 147:49 K:BB through 171.2 innings. Kelly is expected to make his next start at home versus the Dodgers next week.
