PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks got a much-needed win Sunday afternoon, beating the Nationals, 3-1, at Chase Field, but now they have to hope that they didn’t suffer a much bigger loss.
Ace right-hander Corbin Burnes was forced to leave the game in the top of the fifth inning when he felt tightness in his elbow. He will not leave with the rest of his teammates for Atlanta and will instead spend Monday getting an MRI to determine what is wrong.
Burnes said there was no one pitch that he felt pain on, but he noticed the tightness while getting the first two batters of the fifth out. CJ Abrams then came to the plate and the velocity on Burnes' cut fastball was down nearly 3 mph during the at-bat.
After Abrams singled to right field, Burnes immediately waved to the dugout for the trainer to come out. After a brief conversation, a visibly frustrated Burnes walked off the field.
“It just got to the point where the tightness was just too much,” Burnes said. “I waved them out and didn't feel like we needed to push any farther. So hopefully, we caught it early. Hopefully, it's not bad, but we'll see.”
When asked for his level of concern, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he was going to remain optimistic, but said that his concern was not minimal at this point.
For his part, Burnes was hopeful that whatever it might have been, that by coming out of the game immediately he limited the seriousness of it.
“I've never had anything like it before, so I really have nothing to compare it to,” Burnes said. “My body does a pretty good job of telling me when I need to not do things and when I can push things, and it was telling me not to push it. So hopefully, it was me kind of shutting things down before it got too bad. But I won't really know until we get it looked at.”
Losing Burnes for any amount of time would be devastating for the Diamondbacks, who signed him to a six-year, $210 million free agent deal this offseason. Burnes missed one start this year due to some right shoulder inflammation. Otherwise, he has been the team’s best starter.
Sunday was another example of his skills as he held the Nationals scoreless to that point. The Diamondbacks were in desperate need of a win after dropping nine of their previous 10 games.
“You’ve got to tip your cap to Burnes,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He pitched well. I don't know what happened to him [injury wise], but he threw the ball really well."
The prospect of Burnes being out for a long period of time was not one Lovullo wanted to think about.
“It's a gut punch, for sure,” Lovullo said. “He’s tough and he rarely complains about anything. So when you see him wave the trainer and the coaches out there, you're just holding your breath and it's tough. It's very tough. We're with [Burnes], and we’ll be as positive as possible.
"If it is the worst-case news, we have guys that are ready to step in, and we're very capable of putting people in there to help us win baseball games. But still, I'm with Corbin right now, and it's definitely a gut punch.”
Should Burnes miss any time, it’s likely the Diamondbacks will use Ryne Nelson to fill his spot in the rotation. Nelson has been in the rotation in place of the injured Eduardo Rodriguez and has done a nice job.
With Rodriguez set to return next week and the bullpen struggling, Lovullo moved Nelson into the bullpen where he threw four scoreless innings on Saturday. It seems like his time in the 'pen could be short if Rodriguez returns as expected and Burnes has to miss time.