PHOENIX (AP) — Ezequiel Duran had a two-run single and Wyatt Langford hit a solo homer during a six-run fifth inning to lead the Texas Rangers over the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 on Saturday night to even the three-game series.
The Rangers improved to 73-76 and are just two games back of the final American League wild card despite a sub-.500 record.
Arizona fell to 79-70 and is 1 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild card.
The Rangers took advantage of a close replay call that went in their favor during the decisive fifth.
The D-backs thought they were out of the jam with the score tied at 1-all after turning an inning-ending double play, but first base umpire Bill Miller ruled Corey Seager safe at first, signaling that pitcher Brandon Pfaadt's foot was off the bag. Arizona challenged the call, but the video review proved inconclusive and Miller's call was upheld.

#final

The Diamondbacks won the series against the Phillies on the East coast, but all three games there were decided by one run. Tonight's game at Chase Field was just as close, neither side exactly taking advantage of their scoring opportunities. Arizona and Philadelphia combined to go 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. But it was the "1" which proved the difference maker, Bryce Harper's RBI double off the outfield wall turning out to be enough. It gave D-backs' pitcher Brandon Pfaadt his first loss since April 11th, ending his streak of unbeaten starts at ten, though it was definitely a tough loss.
Of course, the major storyline tonight was the return of Ketel Marte to the Diamondbacks' line-up. It came after ten days on the Injured List for a knee issue, and a few more on the Restricted List after he failed to show up at Fenway Park for a game. How would he be greeted by the fans at Chase? Listening at home, it seemed a genuinely mixed greeting, but reporting from the ballpark, Jack said, "Many more booing than cheering, booers were louder, and booed again as he grounded out." However, the reception for his subsequent at-bats seemed to be kinder. Maybe it's like family: you can't stay angry at them forever. You still have to live with them, after all.
In the end, Marte went 1-for-3 with a walk (we'll cycle back to that later). Hopefully, this entire situation is something the team can now put behind them for now, and just concentrate on the battle for a wild-card spot. Regardless of what does (or does not) happen in the off-season, the month of September is something which deserves absolute focus and commitment from everyone on the roster the rest of the way. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too hard for everyone to pull in the same direction over the remaining games. Except in the absence of a relapse, I'm inclined to draw a line under everything for the balance of this season. So, moving on…
After a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the first, the Phillies took the lead with one out in the second. It came on an absolute monster shot by Bryson Stott off Pfaadt, estimated at 464 feet. That's the second-longest hit at Chase Field this year, trailing only a ringworm-powered one which went one foot longer. It was also the third-longest allowed by Pfaadt at Chase, the record belonging to a 472 footer by Oneil Cruz. In case you're wondering, in the Statcast era, the record is a Franchy Cordero blast in 2018 off Matt Koch, tracked at 489 feet. Of course, like the blast tonight, it still only counted as one, the Stott shot giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
They were then able to double their tally in the third, though things could have been a lot worse. A single and a walk started the inning, then Harper's double with one out put two in scoring position. Luis Arraez did Luis Arraez things, putting the ball in play. However, it was firmly hit to Ildemaro Vargas, who came home for Gabriel Moreno to apply the tag at home for the second out. Pfaadt was able to esca

Mark Grace perhaps said it best in the postgame show when he said, "Im not sure we have seen a more unlikely Dbacks win the season"
The almost Dback Clay Holmes shut this Dbacks offense down for 7 innings. The Dbacks had a deal in place for Holmes per multiple reports but the deal fell through at the last minute due to medicals. The fact that he was almost a Dback made the first 7 innings of this game sting all that much more, especially given the current status of this rotation.
Brandon Pfaadt was pretty good today pitching into the 7th inning tonight and allowing 4 runs while keeping his team within striking distance. The Cubs have the 2nd best offense in the league and Pfaadt did a decent enough job of keeping them in check. His first 3 innings were pretty easy getting lots of soft contact, however he gave up a 3 run HR in the 4th inning on a hanging curveball to Ian Happ. Most importantly however, like I mentioned earlier, he was able to settle back in after the home run and give his team 6.2 innings against a red hot offense.
The Dbacks offense finally woke up in the 8th inning as they were able to finally get on the board with 3 runs due to some linked up at bats with a couple of walks and a huge double from the red hot Gabi Moreno and a single from Geraldo Perdomo. When this offense has been clicking this season, it seems as though it is starting with the bottom of the order getting on base for the top of the order.
The story of the game however was Ryan Waldsschmidt who for the second time this season hit a walkoff home run off of a contending team's closer. This time it came as a pinch hitter with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th with Jose Fernandez pinch running at first base for Tim Tawa. The Dbacks were inches away from losing this game as Jose Fernandez was narrowly able to steal 2nd base and get into scoring position down 4-3. Then Waldschmidt got a hanging slider and did not miss it! What an electric moment and perhaps the biggest swing of the season thus far considering that the Dbacks were able to gain a game on both the Padres and the Phillies tonight on 1 single swing. What a great moment for this team!

#offense #game #first #however

I've talked before about the idea of a "stopper" as a pitcher in a starting rotation who can halt a losing streak by at least giving their team a chance to win. In my mind, it's a separate idea from a starting pitching ace who might be expected to have a wholly different level of pitching production. If there was ever a team in desperate need of a "stopper" performance, it would be the Diamondbacks at this point in the season. Even after a series win in Atlanta over the weekend, they have come into Boston and gotten knocked around on both sides of the ball by allowing a combined 20 runs in the first two games and scoring just five in response. We've seen over the past two years how important each win can be – especially in a National League Wild Card that is incredibly tight and also has seen the D-Backs drop back in – so avoiding a sweep was absolutely necessary. And that's to say nothing of the cloud of uncertainty hanging over Ketel Marte's status for the remainder of the season. This afternoon certainly wasn't pretty, but the team did manage to accomplish the mission.
While Brandon Pfaadt may not necessarily pop off the page as a "stopper," he has been one of the reasons for the team's surge over the past month or so. He's pitched to an absurd 1.22 ERA (2.56 FIP) over his last seven starts going back to July 10th – which coincides nearly exactly with the last time the team was .500 or worse. One of the keys to that success: Pfaadt hadn't allowed a home run since his first start back from Reno, a stretch of 49.1 IP. So naturally, he allowed three home runs on the day – a pair of solo shots and a three-run shot that ended his start. The first of those solo shots from Nick Sogard in fact came on the very first pitch of the game – a 93 MPH center-center fastball that Sogard launched for his very first career homer. He nearly repeated the feat when Jarren Duran launched the first pitch he saw of the third inning into the stands, but this one was an elevated fastball instead of center cut. And finally, Pfaadt was victimized by the seemingly unstoppable Mickey Gaspar who homered for the third straight game, although this roundtripper was a three-run instead of a solo shot that tied the game and ended Pfaadt's night.
Even as Pfaadt was being pecked to death by solo home runs, the Arizona offense looked pretty ineffectual the first time through the lineup with three hits and a walk. Their best scoring opportunity in the third was snuffed out when Jose Fernandez elected to try and score on a slow bouncer to third base and was easily tagged out. Thankfully, they rebounded to rally in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead. In the former, they had consecutive doubles from Fernandez and Ryan Waldschmidt as well as a huge two-run double from Gabriel Moreno that bounced off the Green Monster and plated both Waldschmidt and Corbin Carroll. Then in the sixth, Torey Lovullo decided to pinch hit Lars Nootbaar for Jordan Lawlar (who is clearly still gett

Sometimes you roll snake eyes and the Atlanta Braves very nearly did end up doing so against the Snakes, themselves. The Arizona Diamondbacks may have been coming into town following a series loss to the Colorado Rockies (in Arizona, mind you) but they were entering this series with two monsters getting starts for them in their rotation. Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez have both been lights-out recently and Michael Soroka has also been very solid as well.
As such, this wasn't going to be an easy task for the Braves — especially after they completed the monumental task of finally beating the New York Mets in a three-game series. As such, a bit of a letdown was always on the cards and that's what happened in this particular series. Fortunately, some timely hitting from one of baseball's top power hitters helped Atlanta avert a disastrous sweep. Let's get into how everything went down over the weekend, shall we?
So this was one of those games where there wasn't much the Braves could do — the Diamondbacks and their pitching was just too much to handle. Brandon Pfaadt has been on a heater since late-July, as he hasn't given up an earned run since the first inning of his start against the Cardinals back on July 22 — and funnily enough, his current teammate Lars Nootbaar was the one who brought in that run against him.
Anyways, Pfaadt was absolutely nightmarish for the Braves to deal with and this one was essentially set in stone once Arizona managed to take advantage of some shaky defense from Atlanta in the first inning in order to plate the only run that Chris Sale ended up surrendering. Once Pfaadt was done, Arizona called upon both Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia to finish things off and they've both been lights out on the road lately so the Braves were essentially walking into a snake pit (for lack of a better term) in this situation. Atlanta only mustered up three hits and this was pure dominance from Arizona's pitching staff.
Chris Sale was excellent, as usual, it must be noted. Despite the fact that the Braves once again had a tough time dealing with the other team's top guy in this matchup, Sale remained upbeat about things and even expressed a bit of excitement about matchups like this when I asked him about it after the game. "You take this one on the chin," explained Sale. "What these guys have done throughout the year and what they're going to continue to do, you certainly don't expect that. But it happens — I've had blow-up starts where I'm sure they thought they were going to get six innings of one-run ball and it's not. We pick each other up and we keep moving forward."

#arizona #going

Kudos to Doug Drabek, the former Cy Young winner and Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A Reno pitching coach, who has helped turn starter Brandon Pfaadt into one the best pitchers in the game.
Pfaadt lost his rotation job with the D-backs after three starts, was demoted to the bullpen, and was optioned to the Reno on June 3 with a 5.92 ERA.
Pfaadt spent 3 ½ weeks in the minors with Drabek, returned to the Diamondbacks on June 30, and has become the hottest pitcher on the planet, and has pitched 32 ⅔ consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, out-dueling Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Chris Sale in his last two starts.
Pfaadt has made nine starts since his return, and is 7-1 with a 1.15 ERA, yielding a .203 batting average. He became only the third pitcher in franchise history to pitch seven shutout innings in consecutive starts while yielding two or fewer hits after his latest gem Friday night in the D-backs' 2-0 victory over Atlanta.
Nightengale's Notebook: Latest MLB rumors

#pfaadt #diamondbacks #latest #backs

Welcome back, Braves Country!
It's nice to come back refreshed after a series win. And even better when it's against the division rivals, the New York Mets.
Now, the Atlanta Braves are looking for a repeat against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Chris Sale on the mound.
Sale's stats speak for themself. Holding a 2.20 ERA, it's no secret that Sale is the weapon that's holding the pitching rotation together. He's also 12-7 for the season and has shown consistency in his usual six-inning stint, tallying over eight strikeouts in his appearances since July 23.
The question is, which version of the Braves are set to show up against Arizona's Brandon Pfaadt?

#back #atlanta

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers look to snap their seven-game losing streak against Brandon Pfaadt and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
Teams: Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks
Stadium: Chase Field
Time: 5:10 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA

#Dodgers #pfaadt #arizona

After enjoying a wide range of two-start options last week, fantasy baseball managers will need to live with a more moderate list for the current scoring period. Still, there are four serviceable options on this list, depending on a manager's level of risk tolerance. On the hitting side, the Rays are the top source of short-term help, while the Phillies could have some great options for those in shallow leagues.
Sean Manaea, Mets, 15% (@ CLE, @ PIT): Since rejoining the rotation on June 13, Manaea has posted a 3.88 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 43:13 K:BB ratio across nine starts. And his road hasn't been easy, as he has faced clubs that currently hold a playoff spot in seven of those nine outings. The southpaw has thrown six or more innings in three of his past four starts and should have a productive week against the Guardians and Pirates, who rank 27th and 20th, respectively, in OPS vs. lefties.
Ian Seymour, Rays, 40% (@ COL, @ SEA): Although the Rays are keeping him on a short leash, Seymour is showing strong skills (90:28 K:BB ratio). The southpaw's most recent start was a prime example, as he earned a win by following an opener and throwing 4.2 scoreless innings. Although an outing at Coors Field will be challenging, Seymour has pitched well enough to get the benefit of the doubt, especially when his second matchup is a favorable one against a Seattle squad that ranks 29th in OPS vs. lefties.
J.T. Ginn, Athletics, 34% (@ CIN, @ BOS): A breakout season for Ginn was briefly interrupted when he spent the past two weeks on the injured list while dealing with a blister on his right middle finger. The southpaw induces oodles of groundballs and has solid strikeout skills, which has allowed him to post a 3.47 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over 19 starts despite walking more batters than he should (4.1 BB/9 rate). He would rank slightly higher on this list if not for the unknown factor of how effective he will be in his return from injury.
Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks, 29% (vs. SD, vs. LAD): Since altering his delivery and pitch mix, Pfaadt has finally become a reliable starter. The right-hander has logged a 1.85 ERA and 1.06 WHIP while showing outstanding control skills (4 BB) over six starts since rejoining the rotation on June 30.

#list #rays #options #manaea

You guys have probably heard the line 'its hard not to be romantic about baseball' before, and tonight was a perfect encapsulation of that very phrase. It had all the highs of the big blowout win, the heartbreak of the blown save, and then the triumph of the unsung hero coming out of nowhere in the extra innings to save the team. Nights like tonight either drive you crazy, or make you fall in love with the game that much more. No other sport can play with our emotions quite like baseball can.
The Diamondbacks offense got off to such an amazing start. Scoring consistently with team baseball throughout each of the first 4 innings. It really felt like this offense was clicking. Overall they recorded 16 hits in the 12 innings highlighted by James McCann with 4 and Nolan Arenado with 3. On the flip side, this offense also set a franchise record recording 24 outs with runners in scoring position tonight. What started out so good, quickly turned into a start reminder of the problems that have been plaguing this offense most of the season with its struggles with RISP.
Then in the 7th inning, the offense suddenly came to a screeching halt. And the Pirates offense came jolting to life. The Pirates would erase the 6-0 lead the Dbacks had going into the 8th inning with 3 runs in the 8th and 3 runs in the 9th. Unfortunately what had been a strength much of the season in the backend of the bullpen in Thompson and Sewald was a weakness tonight. Thompson simply could not get away with anything tonight giving up 4 hits and a walk in just .2 of an inning. And the leader of this bullpen, Sewald came into the game with a 3 run lead in the 9th and proceeded to give up a base hit and back to back home runs to immediately erase the 3 run lead and tie the game. This was such a low moment for this team in such a big game. Especially with how lock down Sewald has been in save situations this season coming into the game having blown only 2 saves in 24 chances.
However fortunately for the Dbacks there was Gerardo Carillo who tonight put this team on his back and carried them back into the 3rd wildcard spot. Carrillo, who came into today working primarily as the low leverage long man, was thrust straight into some of the most high leverage innings of the season thus far, and boy did he deliver. Carillo was able to give the team 2 innings tonight in which he allowed 0 hits and 0 runs while striking out 3 while getting his first career major league win. He threw a 6 pitch scoreless 11th and then put up another 0 in the 12th to keep this team alive. Carillo has always been an intriguing relief option in the upper minors given his upper 90's fastball velocity combined with his pitch mix including a cutter, a splitter, and sinker. However tonight he also showed that he has what could arguably be the most important trait for a late inning reliever and that is he has that dog in him.
It is also worth discussing Brandon Pfaadt who tonight was dominant over 7 innings and definite

Diamondbacks jump up the power rankings after sweeping a division rival originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are doing their best to stay in the thick of things. They have some serious work to do to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they sit just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot.
The pitching staff has looked much better with the return of Brandon Pfaadt, who has won his last three starts since returning from Triple-A, while the offense is doing enough to squeeze out wins.
With a tough schedule going into the All-Star break, they could have flopped, but they were able to handle business, going into the break with a lot of momentum.
MORE: Diamondbacks trade rumor could impact 5 key pitchers, including Eduardo Rodriguez

After a somewhat surprising (and surprisingly emphatic) win against the Doyers last night in their house thanks in large measure to Tim Tawa busting out, it seemed honestly pretty unlikely to me that we’d knock them off again, especially with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the mound for them and Brandon Pfaadt going for us. Don’t get me wrong, it has seemed like Pfaadt definitely worked some things out during his brief time in Reno, but his two very good starts since he’s been back have been against the Giants and the Padres, neither of whom are exactly poster children for “fierce and difficult competition” at this point in the season. The Dodgers, on the other hand, sport the best record in baseball, and Yamamoto has definitely earned his spot on the All-Star Game roster for the National League this year. So. My expectations were not high, is what I’m saying.
But you know what? I was completely wrong! Hooray! It didn’t look great to start, as Yamamoto made very short work of the top of our lineup in the first, sitting down Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Corbin Carroll, with only ten pitches thrown. But Pfaadt came out for the bottom of the first, and only needed five pitches to retire Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, and Freddie Freeman. Not too shabby.
And it pretty much continued that way through five innings—Brandon Pfaadt outpitching and outperforming the 2025 World Series MVP. Our hitters started hanging longer and more patient at bats on Yamamoto, the Dodgers hitters failed to do so with Pfaadt. Tim Tawa got the Diamondbacks’ first hit with two outs in the second with a fly ball single to center. Sadly, however, he was immediately picked off first base before Yamamoto had to throw another pitch, which was embarrassing. It broke the seal, though, at least, and we started driving Yamamoto’s pitch count up from there, with James McCann reaching on the Max Muncy throwing error with one out in the top of the third and Tommy Troy drawing a six-pitch walk. Nothing more came of that, sadly, as Marte popped out to third, and Perdomo flew out to left after a long at bat, but we made Yamamoto throw 25 pitches in the inning. Pfaadt, on the other hand, cruised through the second and third innings, retiring the Dodgers in order as he completed his first run through their lineup with only 27 pitched needed to record his first nine outs.
The Diamondbacks drew first blood as well in the top of the fourth, after Gabriel Moreno drew a six-pitch walk with one out and then got to third on a Max Kepler grounder that snuck through the right side of the infield and into right field for a single. Tim Tawa then hit a grounder to third that Max Muncy frankly made an amazing play on, but Moreno was running on contact and Muncy’s only play was to throw to first, where he just nabbed Tawa while Gabi crossed the plate for the first run of the game. 1-0 DBACKS
Pfaadt got himself into some trouble in the bottom half of the inning, as Ohtani lined a single to left and Andy Pag

LOS ANGELES — For five innings on Saturday night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked every bit like the ace the Dodgers have leaned on throughout the first half of the season.
Then, one inning changed everything.
Yamamoto unraveled in a disastrous sixth inning, the offense continued its recent slump, and the Dodgers dropped their series to the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 9-2 loss at Dodger Stadium, falling to 61-35 with one game remaining before the All-Star break.
Locked in a scoreless duel with Brandon Pfaadt through four innings, Yamamoto appeared to be in complete command despite surrendering an RBI fielder's choice to Tim Tawa in the fifth that gave Arizona a 1-0 lead.
But the sixth inning quickly spiraled.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James McCann hit his first two home runs of the season and had four RBIs, Brandon Pfaadt made it three wins in three starts since returning to the rotation, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-2 on Saturday night.
McCann hit a three-run shot in a five-run sixth inning as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in nine games against the Dodgers.
Pfaadt (3-1) allowed two runs on six hits with no walks over 5 1/3 innings.
Andy Pages and Mookie Betts had RBI singles for the Dodgers, who lost consecutive games at home for the second time since May 13. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-6) matched a career high by allowing six runs on five hits and four walks in six innings.
Manager Dave Roberts announced Saturday that Yamamoto will not pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Philadelphia. Shohei Ohtani also not will appear in Tuesday’s game.

The Diamondbacks jumped on Padres starter Walker Buehler early. They scored six runs in the first three innings, and despite this being a Brandon Pfaadt start, were just able to hold on for victory. The win put Arizona back in sole possession of second place in the NL West, and also brought them back to a .500 record for the fifteenth time this year. That stat is for ChefAZ.
The D-backs took the lead while, I suspect, a sizeable number of fans were watching Team USA's exit from the World Cup at the hands feet of Belgium. Yes, them again. Ketel Marte wasted little time, tripling on a misplayed ball off the wall in center at Petco. Geraldo Perdomo them wore the next pitch to put runners on the corner, and an errant pick off throw by Buehler allowed the D-backs to bypass the whole, tricky "hitting with RISP" thing. Two outs later, Max Kepler did the whole, tricky "hitting with RISP" thing, scoring Perdomo for a 2-0 Diamondbacks edge. But that was just an amuse bouche for the main course, delivered by Buehler in the fourth.
View Link
It was the epitome of the "That escalated quickly" meme from every San Diegan's favorite movie, Anchorman. With one out, Corbin Carroll squirted one down the left-field line for a double. Five pitches later, it was 6-0 to Arizona. In short order, Gabriel Moreno singled, Lourdes Gurriel had an RBI knock and Max Kepler cranked his first home-run as a Diamondback, a three-run shot. It was a no-doubter, a 417 foot blast to right. Wasn't the end of the fireworks for Arizona, as Geraldo Perdomo went deep (home-run #6 for him) in the fourth, and Nolan Arenado reached double-digits with his tenth of the year. All three homers are above.
Arenado joins Marte and Carroll in that club. After a rough June (196/.255/.299 for a .554 OPS), it'd be nice to get Nolan back on track. Speaking on "back on track", Brandon Pfaadt delivered his best outing of the season. Indeed, the Game Score of 65 was his second-highest since July 18 last year. The only better was, of course, his incomplete game shutout against the Giants in September. Tonight, he pitched five scoreless, with no walks and six strikeouts. He did allow four hits, and just had a single clean inning. But all of the knocks were singles, and he didn't face a single batter with a runner in scoring position. He could have gone longer, but is still being stretched back out. He threw 66 in his first game back and reached 72 tonight.

After a week straight of losing games, the San Diego Padres finally put one back in the win column. With their win on Sunday afternoon, the club staved off the sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That, thankfully, put an end to the Friars’ eight-game losing streak. It has felt like much longer than that, but the club has started to look better. The last three games have felt especially healthy, despite San Diego being 1-2 in that span.
Starter JP Sears pitched four hitless innings against L.A. before giving up a single in the bottom of the fifth. Bench coach Randy Knorr, who replaced Craig Stammen after the latter was ejected in the first inning, decided to pull Sears for unknown reasons. San Diego’s starters have looked better lately. They’ll need to keep that up against the Arizona Diamondbacks heading into their final homestand before the All-Star break.
Pfaadt has been a solid back-end starter for Arizona, but he’s struggled lately. This season, the righty owns a 5.40 ERA through just 43 1/3 innings pitched. Pfaadt’s pitched better as of late, but he still owns a 4.50 ERA across his last 14 innings.
San Diego should have no problems tagging the righty for some runs. Jake Croneworth owns a lifetime .409 batting average against him (22 at-bats). Similarly, third baseman Manny Machado has a 1.061 OPS versus Pfaadt. Both will look to continue that success.
After completely turning his season around, Buehler had a setback in his last start. Buehler had given up just one run apiece in every start he made in June. Then came his last outing against the Chicago Cubs. Nine earned runs in just four innings of work. It was, by far, the righty’s roughest outing this season.

The Dbacks needed a big start from Brandon Pfaadt, and he was able to deliver on Tuesday night in his first start back in the major league rotation. Early on in the game, many fans were quick to note some mechanical changes to Pfaadt’s delivery as he started on the 1st base side of the rubber and seemed to go away from bringing his hands over his head to initiate his windup. His motion definitely appear a lot cleaner. He was able to give them 5.1 innings giving up just 3 hits and 1 run and was super-efficient needing just 66 pitches to pitch into the 6th inning. Pfaadt’s start definitely set the tone for the game as the Dbacks battled to get back above .500.
On the offensive side, the Lourdes Gurriel Jr hot streak watch is also officially on as he homered in the first inning with 2 on and is now 8 for his last 22 with 4 doubles and a home run. We all know what it can look like when Lourdes gets on a heater, and fortunately for the Dbacks it may be coming at the perfect time as they desperately need the offense. Later in the game, Ketel Marte homered in his 4th straight game tying a franchise record. An absolute no doubter on an 0-2 pitch that went 431 feet. This is such a great sign to see for the budding all star as he continues his recent tear. Max Kepler was also able to collect his first hits as a Dback tonight as he doubled in the bottom of the first inning and later singled. A good sign for the recent pickup.
Tonight was all Dbacks as they won their franchise record 8th straight game against a single team to start the season. They have had the Giants number all season, and this series could have come at a better time.
The Dbacks will go for a 3 game sweep tomorrow evening as they send Zac Gallen to the mound as he looks to right the ship. A sweep would be great to see for this team after they were just swept themselves this past weekend, especially considering they are gearing up for a tough series against the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers this weekend.

D-backs recall Brandon Pfaadt for a familiar role originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are recalling Brandon Pfaadt from Triple-A to start Tuesday's game against the San Francisco Giants. Since the D-backs are operating with nine relief pitchers, one will have to be optioned to create **** e for the right-hander.
Pfaadt, who posted a worrisome 5.94 ERA in the early going, was shifted to the bullpen upon Merrill Kelly's return after making just three starts in the season. As a relief pitcher as well, things didn't go well for the righty, posting a 5.92 ERA over 38 innings across 13 appearances.
The D-backs optioned him to Triple-A Reno on June 4, intending to make him a starter again. There is a possibility that he will be limited to certain innings on Tuesday, as in his latest start with Triple-A Reno, he only pitched 52 pitches over 3.2 innings. So, he has built up, but probably not to a stage where one could expect 6-7 innings out of him.
It remains to be seen how Pfaadt will do after being asked to step on the mound again as a starter.

At the beginning of this series, Mark Grace remarked that the Diamondbacks needed to take advantage of the starting pitching matchups in the first two games because – on paper at least – they favored the D-Backs. The first game featured a resurgent Eduardo Rodriguez against youngster Emmet Sheehan while the second one pitted the reinvented Michael Soroka against journeyman Eric Lauer. Grace's recommendation was certainly heeded in the first game when Rodriguez went six innings and allowed just one run, but Soroka wasn't quite able to take the baton the next night even if he ended stronger than he started. Frustratingly, the script flipped on starting pitching beginning with Shohei Ohtani and his otherworldly 0.82 ERA going tonight while Justin Wrobleski and his excellent 2.87 ERA will round out the series. As expected, the D-Backs ran headlong into the buzzsaw that Ohtani has been on the ***** p this season while Zac Gallen labored through just five innings and gave up five runs. There were essentially no highlights for the D-Backs tonight, just lowlights. Seriously, if you're a Diamondbacks' fan, go read a book or talk to a friend instead.
The vibes for the night started off poorly with Ketel Marte being scratched from the lineup late with "full body fatigue" that was later clarified to be more focused on his hamstring as Torey Lovullo explained that he would prefer to give him a day off today than push him through the pain. They did not improve through the night. After a scoreless first, Mookie Betts leadoff the second inning by reaching on a slightly off-target throw from Geraldo Perdomo that was immediately cashed in on a mammoth home run from Kyle Tucker off a flat Gallen fastball that sat middle-middle. The third also started with a pair of leadoff base runners with a walk to Ohtani, a double from Andy Pages, and a two-run single from Freddie Freeman. Max Muncy would add another run on a single that somehow eluded Gallen and Perdomo to reach the outfield and allow Freeman to motor around for a fifth LA run. Brandon Pfaadt came into the game in relief and failed to provide much confidence in his role moving forward. After collecting a couple quick outs, he loaded the bases on a Muncy double, a Will Smith walk, and an Alex Call hit by pitch that was again quickly cashed in by an Alex Freeland single up the middle that once again eluded the infield defenders.
Meanwhile, the Ohtani show was in full effect tonight. He extended his no-hit streak another 3.2 IP until Gabriel Moreno broke up his no-hitter with a two-out double in the fourth – one of just two hits and three baserunners the ***** anese ace allowed over six innings of work. The D-Backs would muster just two more baserunners for the remainder of the game with a two-out walk to Jose Fernandez and a fielding error on a ball Moreno put into play on the left side of the infield. They did little to generate any baserunners and continued to struggle to find any kind of offensive rhythm aft