Brandon Pfaadt continues to be invaluable to Diamondbacks in win over Padres

PHOENIX — Brandon Pfaadt has made seven starts since returning to the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation, and Arizona improved to 7-0 in those games after a 5-1 win against the San Diego Padres on Monday at Chase Field.

Tim Tawa’s three-run home run in the fourth inning off Michael King put the Diamondbacks ahead, and they held for their fifth win the last six games.

The Diamondbacks (60-53) and Padres (58-55) entered this four-game series one game apart in the race for a National League Wild Card spot, with the Padres just on the outside of the bracket.

They play each other six more times, including three to end the season in San Diego. The tiebreaker is anyone’s game, as Arizona leads the season series 4-3. This is arguably the most important head-to-head matchup on the D-backs’ schedule.

In such a crucial matchup, after a 10-game road trip (that included a rain delay on Sunday) in which the D-backs needed 12 innings out of their bullpen over the past three games, Pfaadt’s performance was greatly helpful on many fronts.

Pfaadt cruised through six innings with 69 pitches, showing complete game-caliber efficiency.

He hit snags in the seventh, as a walk, single and throwing error from Nolan Arenado led to a move to the bullpen, but Juan Morillo struck out Xander Bogaerts to keep the Diamondbacks’ lead at 3-1.

Overall, Pfaadt pitched 6.2 innings with no earned runs, and therefore, through seven starts since coming back from Reno he has allowed seven earned runs in 40.2 innings, a 1.55 ERA.

Morillo delivered 1.1 scoreless innings, and Brandyn Garcia was set to enter another save situation — which would have been his third since Paul Sewald was moved out of the closer’s role last week — before the D-backs tacked on two runs in the eighth.

Garcia capped off the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

In the lineup, Tawa recorded three hits, James McCann another two and the bottom third of the order drove in all five runs.

Corbin Carroll went 0-for-5 from the top of the order, but Arizona still managed nine hits and five walks, finishing 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

The club did not have hot-hitting catcher Gabriel Moreno, who was scratched to attend the birth of his child.

Monday attendance

22,008

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