When the Arizona Diamondbacks are staring down a big game, there are few arms more consistently capable of delivering than right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.
His “Big Game Brandon” moniker is well-deserved, and was reinforced yet again on Saturday night against a dangerous Los Angeles Dodgers offense, in front of a packed Chase Field crowd.
With the season series on the line just following a thrilling walk-off victory, Pfaadt did everything he could to push his team toward what could have been its sixth straight victory against the Dodgers.
Unfortunately, Arizona’s offense could not provide Pfaadt a lead, and reliever Jonathan Loaisiga gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead on just the second pitch of his eighth inning. But Pfaadt’s start was, yet again, dominant when the D-backs sorely needed it.
Pfaadt has been on quite the streak since heading down to Triple-A Reno back in early June. Since his return, he’s not only looked like a different pitcher, he’s pitched like a true ace.
On Saturday night, the threat of Los Angeles’ highly-paid group of All-Star hitters had almost no answer for what Pfaadt was throwing. The 27-year-old right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings— the second such time doing so in his last three starts. In fact, he has not allowed an earned run since July 23 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
He looked calm, collected and sharp, pitching to veteran catcher James McCann. As has been the case for many of Pfaadt’s recent starts, he did not pick up a great deal of swing-and-miss. He only struck out two batters.
But he also only allowed four baserunners, in the form of two walks and two base hits. He did not give up his first knock until the fourth inning, and did not allow an extra-base hit on the night. In fact, he only gave up four batted balls north of 95 MPH; those four pitches resulted in five total outs.
Saturday was the second time this year Pfaadt has out-dueled Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who could not complete six innings and gave up seven baserunners on 107 pitches.
Once again, Pfaadt drastically lowered his ERA, which was as high as 5.92 prior to his send-out. It is now 3.36, which is only worse than Eduardo Rodriguez’s 2.71 and Michael Soroka’s 3.07. Soroka is nearing a return, but has not pitched since June 19. Removing the unsuccessful relief innings, Pfaadt’s ERA is 2.83 as a pure starter.
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