2 weeks Ago By Michael McDermott, Burn City Sports
The Diamondbacks took the series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Brandon Pfaadt turned in the best start of his career, striking out a career-high 12 in seven strong innings to pick up his 10th win of the season and the offense struck for a couple of big hits to take control of the game. It was redemption for the young right-hander, who surrendered eight runs in 1 2/3 innings to the same Brewers team just five days ago at Chase Field.
At one point, he struck out seven straight hitters between the fourth and sixth innings, tying the franchise record. The only other two pitchers to achieve that are Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, who both did it in the team’s championship season in 2001. It started with his ability to command the four-seamer.
He used it to jump ahead in counts, then spotted it at the top bar of the strike zone for swings and missed. The four-seamer accounted for 14 of his 21 whiffs and 13 called strikes out of 42 pitches. After establishing the fastball early, he used the rest of his arsenal in a complementary fashion.
His ability to change looks kept the Brewers off balance, resulting in 43 called or swinging strikes. That’s the fourth-highest total for a Diamondbacks pitcher in the Statcast Era, tied with Robbie Ray on May 30, 2017. Brandon Pfaadt, K'ing the Side in the 5th.
pic.twitter.com/HBRYRKYwZu — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2024 While Pfaadt was shutting down the Brewers lineup, the Diamondbacks went to work on right-hander Tobias Myers .
While they weren’t able to score in the first four innings, they ran up his pitch count and then took advantage when his command started to falter in the fifth. Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo walked to begin the inning, turning the lineup over a third time. Corbin Carroll hit a ground ball that took a tough hop to put Arizona on the board.
Ketel Marte banged a ball off the top of the wall in right center to drive in Perdomo and Christian Walker chased Sal Frelick to the wall in right and Arizona had a 3-0 lead with Pfaadt pitching the game of his life. #Dbacks finally grind down Myers in the 5th and Ketel Marte narrowly missed a 3-run homer there. Arizona leads 2-0 in the 5th.
pic.twitter.com/bL6DR16qoZ — Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) September 20, 2024 The Brewers tacked on a run as Pfaadt tired in the seventh, as Garrett Mitchell turned on a sweeper for a long home run.
That would prove to be the only mistake and a footnote on a career night for the young right-hander, as he bounced back to strike out Blake Perkins for his 12th strikeout to cap off the night. Pavin Smith answered Milwaukee’s home run with one of his own, crushing a two-run home run to left-center to make it 5-1. It marks the fourth time he’s homered on national television, homering thrice in their Sunday Night Baseball blowout of the Houston Astros on September 8.
With the win, the Diamondbacks’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot is eight with nine games to go. Next Game The Diamondbacks will try to secure at least a split of this four-game series, with their ace on the mound. Zac Gallen (12-6, 3.
61 ERA) has pitched well of late, allowing just three runs in his last 16 innings, with a team record of 3-0. The Brewers will go with right-hander Colin Rea (12-5, 4.14 ERA).
First pitch at American Family Field will be at 5:10 P.M. MST.
This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission..
