Brandon Pfaadt, rookies lead Diamondbacks to win over Padres

PHOENIX — Brandon Pfaadt nearly pitched a quality start, and rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear hit his first home run with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Monday’s 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Rookie southpaw Kyle Backhus recorded a six-out save to cap an all-around solid performance from Arizona in its return to Chase Field after a nine-game road trip.

The Diamondbacks have won three straight games, scoring 19 runs on 31 hits during the winning streak, a promising start for the team’s younger identity after the trade deadline.

“ You get good pitching, you get timely hitting, I think we came out ready to play,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “A lot of really good signs. You’re starting to see some of the characteristics of what this team can be. It’s just a matter of going out there and being consistent and doing it every single day.”

Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks pitching performs well vs. Padres

Pfaadt walked the first two batters of the game but retired the next eight of nine hitters with a catcher’s interference being the exception.

Pfaadt pushed through 5.2 innings with two earned runs on five hits, and he struck out four batters. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four straight starts against San Diego, all four of which resulted in wins for Arizona.

“We had the changeup working,” Pfaadt said. “Outside of the first two batters walking, I think we settled in and the offense got on the board early, so that helped.”

His changeup was particularly effective on Monday, as he drew six whiffs and four foul balls on 12 swings.

Monday was a bounce-back outing for Pfaadt, who had been trending in the right direction before he allowed seven earned runs in Detroit last week.

After Pfaadt, Andrew Hoffmann made his Diamondbacks debut after coming over in the Randal Grichuk trade with the Kansas City Royals.

The 25-year-old entered the game with two runners on in the sixth inning and induced a first-pitch fly out from Padres trade deadline acquiree Ryan O’Hearn. Hoffmann followed with a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts, and the victims were Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.

“That was like the first big league outing I had where it was, you call it leverage,” Hoffmann said. “As a relief pitcher, you pride yourself on not cashing other people’s runs in.”

Backhus followed with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit. The Diamondbacks were short on available bullpen arms, so they leaned on the rookies to record big outs against a division rival.

“ I know we’ve lost a lot of leaders recently, but we filled them with guys like Locklear and guys in the bullpen as we saw tonight with Hoffmann, so we got a lot of new talent,” Pfaadt said. “I think we can finish this season strong.”

Diamondbacks bats get going early

The Diamondbacks got rolling early with five runs in the opening four innings of the game despite leaving some runners on base.

Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll led off the first with singles against San Diego left-hander JP Sears, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled home the first run. Arizona loaded the bases in the second with no outs and only managed one run on a Carroll sacrifice fly.

Locklear then homered to lead off the third, a towering shot over the bullpen in left field to take a 3-1 lead. The 24-year-old came to Arizona from Seattle in the Eugenio Suarez trade, and he has the opportunity to fit into the club’s future plans if he can produce.

“It was really cool to be able to do something for the team and just see their reaction to it,” Locklear said.  ”It’s a great opportunity. I’m just trying to do my part, do what I can in the lineup, battle my at-bats, play good defense and do whatever Torey asks me.”

Arizona tacked on with RBI hits from Carroll and Gurriel in the fourth inning.

Belted. pic.twitter.com/TrHWVZeyk9

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 5, 2025

The Diamondbacks recorded 12 hits on Monday, as eight of nine batters in the starting lineup recorded a knock (catcher James McCann being the outlier).

“We had an all-field approach, we just kept chipping away at Sears,” Lovullo said. “He’s got good stuff. He lives at the top of the zone. We got really stubborn and started to look for our pitch and controlled counts. I think that was the bottom line.”

Alek Thomas capped another multi-hit effort with a solo home run in the eighth inning for insurance.

Thomas has put together four straight multi-hit games with two home runs in that span. His OPS has leaped from .659 entering August to .709 just four games later. He also made a leaping catch at the wall to end the game.

This Is Why He’s Hot pic.twitter.com/cdNLWmD56x

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 5, 2025

Additionally, Blaze Alexander reached base twice with a double and a walk, and he saw 21 pitches in four plate appearances. The bottom of the order putting pressure on pitchers would be a welcome development to lengthen a lineup that removed power at the trade deadline.

“There’s a certain part of the order where they have a little bit more freedom to do some things and part of the order that’s supposed to get on base, drive up pitch counts and just be a little gritty,” Lovullo said. “I think they’re all slowly understanding what it means to have a successful at-bat.”

Up next for Diamondbacks

The series continues Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. MST with Ryne Nelson matching up with San Diego veteran Yu Darvish.

Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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