D-backs’ Brandon Pfaadt strikes out 7 Brewers in a row, tying club record in key win

Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt struck out seven straight Milwaukee Brewers hitters during a dominant seven-inning outing at American Family Field on Thursday. The D-backs (85-68) finished off a key 5-1 victory to kick off the final 10 games of the regular season.

Coming off giving up eight earned runs in 1.2 innings against the Brewers at Chase Field last weekend, Pfaadt opened Thursday’s game with three perfect innings to set the tone.

Brice Turang gave the Brewers their first hit to lead off the fourth, but Pfaadt stranded him on second after a pair of strikeouts.

The punch outs kept rolling, as Pfaadt struck out the side in the fifth inning, caught Sal Frelick looking to lead off the sixth and punched out Andruw Monasterio swinging for seven Ks in a row. That tied a franchise record for consecutive strikeouts in a single game. Randy Johnson did so three times and Curt Schilling once — all in 2001.

Pfaadt struck out 11 batters through six scoreless innings to tie a career high. And at 85 pitches, there was something left in the tank.

The right-hander came out for the seventh, recorded two outs but surrendered a solo shot to Garrett Mitchell to end the shutout.

Pfaadt struck out Blake Perkins to end the inning, setting a new career high with 12. He came out of the game with a 3-1 lead after a season-high 104 pitches. Pfaadt dotted up the top of the strike zone with his heater, which he used for 14 of his 21 whiffs on Thursday. Paired with the sweeper he appeared to have a better feel for than last week, and Pfaadt had Brewers hitters looking off-kilter all game long.

He relented two hits and no walks.

Brandon Pfaadt, K’ing the Side in the 5th. pic.twitter.com/HBRYRKYwZu

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2024

This season, there had only been 10 starts made in MLB with at least seven innings, 12 strikeouts and one earned run for fewer entering Thursday, according to Stathead.

The last Diamondbacks pitcher to do so was Merrill Kelly, who put together two such starts last season.

Pfaadt had not recorded a quality start in his previous six outings, as the second-year big leaguer has been in a funk of late (9.00 ERA in that span). He went on a five-game quality streak earlier this season as a staple in a banged up rotation.

American Family Field was the venue for Pfaadt’s postseason debut last October in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, which kicked off a run that put Pfaadt on the map with a 3.27 ERA in five games.

The Diamondbacks have received back-to-back stellar outings ahead of Zac Gallen Friday and Kelly on Saturday. Eduardo Rodriguez threw 6.1 innings with two earned runs and 11 strikeouts on Wednesday in Colorado.

This is only the eighth instance in club history when D-backs starters struck out at least 11 batters in back-to-back games. Gallen and Kelly did so last season. Johnson was involved in five of these.

Brandon Pfaadt’s 10th and 11th Ks. pic.twitter.com/MibrFv7EMb

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2024

Arizona gave Pfaadt a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, as Brewers starter Tobias Myers dueled Pfaadt early, albeit without the efficiency.

The D-backs took the lead 1-0 on an error by Monasterio at third base. Ketel Marte hit a single off the wall for an RBI, and the third run scored on a deep sacrifice fly out by Christian Walker.

Pavin Smith smacked a two-run shot in the eighth inning for insurance. A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez locked the game down in the final two frames.

The Diamondbacks entered Thursday tied with the New York Mets — but without the head-to-head tiebreaker — for the second NL Wild Card spot. New York defeated Philadelphia on Thursday.

The D-backs will see Brewers right-hander Colin Rea on Friday with first pitch at 5:10 p.m.

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