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Ryne Nelson secures his lead for 4 innings

BOSTON – The Diamondbacks scored two runs in the first inning for right-hander Ryne Nelson, who had been holding the lead until then, and the Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning Friday night at Fenway Park.

The first four batters of the game reached base safely for the Diamondbacks against Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello, who allowed singles by Corbin Carroll and Jake McCarthy before issuing two consecutive walks to Joc Pederson and Josh Bell.

Bell's walk made it 1-0 and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s sacrifice fly to right brought McCarthy home the second run of the game.

Nelson allowed a run in the bottom half of the inning when Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu hit back-to-back doubles to start the inning.

Injury updates on Alek Thomas, Ketel Marte and others

BOSTON – Center fielder Alek Thomas is on the Triple-A Reno team's injured list because he suffered a “grade 1 oblique strain,” according to Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen.

Thomas, whom the Diamondbacks traded to Reno on Aug. 14, felt discomfort while batting before Reno's Aug. 17 game, played that day and was sore the next morning, Hazen said.

“From an imaging standpoint, it seemed to be fairly mild, but he's not going to be able to swing and rotate and do things like that for a while,” Hazen said. “Hopefully he'll be back by the end of the season, but we'll see how it goes.”

Second baseman Ketel Marte, who was placed on the injured list on Monday with a left ankle injury, is eligible to return as early as Aug. 29, but Hazen made it sound like that was a little too aggressive.

“Things seem to be moving in a positive direction, but I think we're at the mercy of that to some extent because it's been irritated once before on a hit,” Hazen said. “We're not going to just shove it back in and see, 'Hey, is it still there?' 'Yep, it's still there.' I think it's going to take some time for everything to completely settle down before we can do that.”

Manager Torey Lovullo said first baseman Christian Walker (oblique) has increased the intensity of his swings and may face a real pitcher early next week. From there, the next step would be some rehab, Lovullo said.

Hazen said catcher Gabriel Moreno (adductor strain) has taken steps in his recovery but is not yet ready to move on to the activities that would be the final steps of his rehab.

“There's probably some limitations and some things,” Hazen said. “Catching, blocking, sliding, those are probably the last things we can tackle to see what it's like. But he does some things — hitting, throwing, things like that — that don't give him any problems. There are good signs there, but I think there are still going to be some hurdles.”

Hazen did not give a timetable for Moreno's return, but said he was “hopeful he will be back before the end of the year.”

Pitching duel between the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox on Saturday

Diamondbacks at Red Sox, 1:10 p.m., Cox, Chapter 34

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (9-6, 3.85) vs. Red Sox RHP Kutter Crawford (8-10, 4.25).

At Fenway Park: Gallen allowed four runs in five innings against the Rays on Saturday. … Since the beginning of July, he has a 5.24 ERA in 46⅓ innings, with 21 walks and just 35 strikeouts in that stretch. … This year, he has done significant damage with his fastball, with opponents hitting .318 with a .503 off-pitch slug. … He has never played against the Red Sox. … Crawford began July by allowing just one run in a 20-inning stretch, but he has struggled in his final six starts, allowing 29 runs in 29⅓ innings. He wasn't too bad in his last appearance, although he was also off the ball, allowing three runs in 5⅓ innings. … Opposing hitters hit a low average but a high slug in each of his top three attempts, with his fastball and cutter each accounting for 10 home runs and his sweeper allowing seven home runs. … He made one appearance against the Diamondbacks last season as a relief pitcher but has never faced them in his career.

Soon

Sunday: In Boston, 10:35 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-0, 3.63) vs. Red Sox RHP Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.01).

Monday: Out of.

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (8-6, 4.08) vs. Mets LHP Sean Manaea (9-5, 3.48).

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0, 3.94) vs. Mets RHP Luis Severino (9-6, 3.84).

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