Ryne Nelson may have lost the fifth starter battle after an ugly outing against the Royals in Surprise as the D-backs lost 12-1. He allowed eleven hits over three innings, leading to nine runs, eight earned. He walked none and had one strikeout. There were scoreless innings from Ryan Thompson, Justin Martinez and Drey Jameson. Not much to report on the offensive side either. Arizona had seven hits, and Kevin Graham got the only walk in addition to his hit, though did make an error. Ildemaro Vargas drove in Diamondbacks only run, with a sixth inning groundout.
At Salt River Fields, things were better, despite the 11-5 defeat.