Brandon Pfaadt chased early, Diamondbacks score 8 unanswered runs in loss to Brewers

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt allowed eight earned runs for the first time in his MLB career during a 15-8 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

Pfaadt exited after recording only five outs, chased by a Willy Adames grand slam. The D-backs fell behind 13-0 after five runs scored off reliever Dylan Floro, who has allowed more runs than innings pitched since joining the team at the trade deadline.

The bats woke up for eight unanswered runs to avoid a more embarrassing final and give a charge to an announced crowd of 44,886 — although that certainly was not the number by the eighth inning.

“Tonight was a total lack of pitch execution, missed pitches in the middle of the zone, lack of command with our secondary stuff, just too many misses to a team that is just going to fight you the whole way and not give in,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

Seven of Milwaukee’s eight runs scored off Pfaadt came with two outs in the second frame, a rally started by Sal Frelick poking a single into the 6-hole. Frelick robbed Corbin Carroll of a home run in the first inning, so his two plays changed the outlook of this game. The Brewers (86-62) racked up four straight singles followed by two walks to set up Adames, who hit two homers on Saturday.

Willy Adames doubles the @Brewers lead with a GRAND SLAM 😮‍💨

(MLB x @DairyQueen) pic.twitter.com/btKsrF1O9Y

— MLB (@MLB) September 15, 2024

Pfaadt did not allow much hard contact but failed to miss bats. He did not strike out a batter despite working six two-strike counts.

“Definitely not how we wanted it to go,” Pfaadt said. “I think we know how important these games are, to let the team down with the game like that, I think is unacceptable and we’ve got to do better.”

This has been a very difficult stretch for the 25-year-old who had been the rock for a banged up rotation throughout much of the season — he is the only member of the starting five to not spend time on the injured list.

He has allowed 25 earned runs on 40 hits over his last 22 innings across five starts, including Saturday. He has a 7.58 ERA in his last nine outings overall.

“I think the slider hasn’t felt great, and it’s a work in progress but that’s obviously our best pitch,” Pfaadt said. “And when we don’t have that, when we’re not commanding that, we have to rely on other pitches. And so I think the adjustment we need to make before next week, before we face them again, is getting that back and being aggressive with that.”

Pfaadt’s next outing will be in Milwaukee this upcoming week, as Arizona has a four-game series at American Family Field starting Thursday.

“Unacceptable” Brandon Pfaadt describes tonight’s performance. pic.twitter.com/OL1NIAtpsn

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 15, 2024

Is Brandon Pfaadt fatigued?

The Diamondbacks (82-66) gave Pfaadt some additional rest coming into Saturday, as they flipped him and Eduardo Rodriguez this weekend using Thursday’s off day. Pfaadt is up to 166.2 innings this year. He threw 178.2 innings last season between Triple-A, Diamondbacks regular season games and postseason appearances.

Pfaadt pushed back on the notion he may be fatigued at this point.

“No, physically I feel great and ready to finish out strong and rebound,” Pfaadt said.

“Do I think it’s a part of a fatigue factor? It could be, but he says he feels good,” Lovullo said.

Torey Lovullo comments on the loss. pic.twitter.com/re3yKVANoi

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 15, 2024

Diamondbacks score 8 unanswered runs

Yilber Diaz made his relief debut for the Diamondbacks and went three scoreless innings before giving up a two-run shot to William Contreras in the ninth. Still, Diaz ate four innings as the offense started to make noise.

The Diamondbacks took out starters such as Ketel Marte, Carroll, Christian Walker and Eugenio Suarez early, but the club battled.

Josh Bell came off the bench and delivered a two-run single in the sixth, Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the seventh and Arizona tacked on four runs in the eighth.

“If we got a little slug, we were actually going to be right back in the game,” Lovullo said. “So I’m very satisfied with a few things that happened late. … We closed up that gap with a solid approach, but we got to be better on the mound.”

Geraldo Perdomo drove in two runs with a double, although the D-backs stranded runners on second and third. Brewers third baseman Andruw Monasterio helped out with a pair of misplayed balls, although shortstop Joey Ortiz made a diving stop to save two runs.

Eight unanswered. 👏 pic.twitter.com/AhpyOImWYx

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 15, 2024

The Diamondbacks received multi-hit nights from Bell, Grichuk, Perdomo, Adrian Del Castillo and Pavin Smith, finishing with 14 hits total. Arizona entered Saturday 17-0 when racking up 14 hits this season.

No position player pitching?

By cutting Milwaukee’s lead, Arizona actually eliminated the option to use a position player on the mound. MLB’s rule says a team must be trailing by eight or more runs or ahead by 10 or more runs. Thus, Diaz had to come back out for a fourth inning in relief.

“I wanted to clip him at three (innings) max, and to be honest with you, we were gonna throw a position player, but it’s got to be eight runs or more,” Lovullo said. “And we got inside of that. So I was kind of trapped.”

Diamondbacks’ next game

The D-backs can avoid the sweep on Sunday at 1:10 p.m.

Zac Gallen (3.55 ERA) gets the start against Milwaukee southpaw DL Hall (4.01 ERA).

The Diamondbacks remain the second NL Wild Card team going into Sunday, but they only lead the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves by a game.

Sunday’s matchup will air on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports app. 

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