Diamondbacks’ Brandon Pfaadt outduels Dodgers All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto in emphatic win

LOS ANGELES — Pitcher Brandon Pfaadt has given the Arizona Diamondbacks three straight winning performances since returning to the starting rotation, the latest coming against one of the league’s top offenses, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Saturday’s game looked like a challenge for the Diamondbacks with All-Star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the other side, but Pfaadt outperformed Yamamoto in what unfolded into a 9-2 Arizona win.

The Diamondbacks climbed back over .500 at 48-47 on a night filled with contributions from less-than-obvious sources.

Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll have combined to go 1-for-18 in the series, and yet the D-backs have put up 18 runs.

Just as the Diamondbacks appeared to be hitting a low after back-to-back ugly losses to the San Diego Padres, they have won three straight games with six total runs allowed. Arizona is back to within 3.5 games of a playoff spot with one game to play before the All-Star break.

Brandon Pfaadt continues to look sharp in return to rotation

Pfaadt shut out the Dodgers for five innings before relenting a pair of runs in the sixth, ending his night with 5.1 frames and the two earned runs. His pitch count reached 77 as he continues to stretch out after his previous bullpen role.

He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, throwing a five-pitch opening frame. He allowed back-to-back singles to lead-off the fourth, but he fought out of the jam with clutch pitches that drew chase from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.

Pfaadt has walked one batter in his three starts since getting recalled from Triple-A, as being aggressive and attacking the zone with his four-seamer and building off that pitch has been a main focus.

“I’ve said it the last three outings, but trying to be as efficient as possible, pounding the zone and going out there and attacking guys and being an aggressor,” Pfaadt said.

“I think just establishing the zone and then using the mix after that. I think that’s the biggest thing and that’s something that we got away from, or I got away from. And I think just establishing the zone and letting the pitches work for themselves.”

Arizona’s bullpen took it from there with 3.2 shutout frames.

The Diamondbacks’ offense, meanwhile, scratched across a run off Yamamoto in the fourth inning of what looked like a pitcher’s duel before breaking the game open in the sixth.

For the second straight game, the D-backs received some key slug from lower in the batting order.

Diamondbacks’ other guys stepping up

First baseman Tim Tawa stayed hot with three hits and two RBIs, driving in six runs over the first two games of this series. Tawa ripped an RBI double down the left-field line off Yamamoto, and Gabriel Moreno ran through a stop sign, nearly plowed over third base coach J.R. House and scored.

Los Angeles intentionally walked third baseman Nolan Arenado to face catcher James McCann with two outs, and McCann smacked a three-run blast to left field to hand Yamamoto his sixth earned run.

Yamamoto had not surrendered six runs in a start since last August, and he had only allowed five runs once through 16 starts this season.

The Diamondbacks built that inning in a way that the organization preaches. Geraldo Perdomo walked, Moreno punched a single to the opposite field and away they went.

Arizona drew six walks on Saturday after working five on Friday. The at-bat quality and checking off pitcher’s pitches stood out to manager Torey Lovullo.

“We’ve been talking about this for two and a half months and we know that’s part of our DNA,” Lovullo said. “When we do it, it looks like that, you beat one of the best right-handed pitchers in all of baseball. You build innings, you drive up pitch counts, get into bullpens and you win baseball games. We know we can do it, we just got to be more consistent with it.”

And like Friday’s 9-3 win, the Diamondbacks added to their lead.

Max Kepler hit his second sacrifice fly of the game, and Arenado and McCann hit back-to-back long balls off Landon Knack to really take the Dodger crowd out of the game.

McCann had not hit a home run this season, and the last time he clubbed two in a game was back in 2024.

Spots 4-8 in the lineup went 9-for-18 with nine RBIs.

“If you look at what we did last year, when we got really hot in the second half, it was up-and-down the lineup,” McCann said. “Taking some pressure off those guys at the top that other teams really focus on. So anytime the bottom of the order can take some of that pressure, some of that load, that’s a huge thing for this team and for this offense.”

“They can’t do it every night,” Lovullo said of Marte and Carroll, specifically. “They spoil us, and sometimes it’s our turn to pull them and that’s what the boys did.”

Final game of the opening half

Zac Gallen was supposed to start Arizona’s final game before the All-Star break, but he was sent back to Phoenix due to elbow inflammation. Mitch Bratt is likely to start in his place, which would be Bratt’s second major league outing.

The Dodgers will roll with Emmett Sheehan (4–6, 4.91 ERA). 

The game will start at 1:10 p.m. MST.

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