Brandon Pfaadt Strikes Out 11 in Clutch Diamondbacks Victory

The Postseason hero was lights out and Ketel Marte delivered the go-ahead hit in a 3-2 D-backs come from behind win over the Mariners

Apr 28, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Pfaadt stomped off the mound at the end of the 6th inning having just completed one of his most dominating outings in his young career so far. He had just struck out the side mowing down the middle of the Mariners' order, bringing his total for the game to 11. While he ended up with a no-decision, the D-backs came back from a 2-1 deficit to win the game 3-2, ending their difficult road trip on a high note.

It didn't look like Pfaadt was going to have a great start when Josh Rojas led off the bottom of the first inning with a homer for the second time this series. Pfaadt struck out five of the next seven batters however, as he tried to match Mariners starter Logan Gilbert.

Gilbert cruised through the first three innings, striking out six while allowing just a solo homer to Christian Walker in the second inning. It was Walker's 5th homer and 18th RBI of the season, and tied the game up at 1-1. Gilbert struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced and it looked like the D-backs were headed for another rough game against a Mariners starter.

The turning point in this game may have come early. Pfaadt ran into trouble in the 3rd inning when he allowed a leadoff triple to Leo Rivas in his first major league at bat. A catcher's interference error on Tucker Barnhart and a bloop single by Julio Rodriguez plated a run and gave the Mariners 1st and second with nobody out. Jorge Polanco hit a chopper to Eugenio Suarez and the throw to first was not in time.

Suddenly the Mariners had the bases loaded with nobody out and looked about to blow the game open. A sinking liner by Ty France out to left was caught on a tremendous play by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. however and then Mitch Garver hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

The Mariners would not get another man on base for the rest of the game. Pfaadt retired the last 11 batters he faced, six of them by strikeout. He threw a career-high 38 sweepers, inducing nine of his 17 swings and misses on that pitch. His final line was 6IP, 5H, 2 ER, 0 Walks, and 11 K's.

Brandon Pfaadt was dominant today

pic.twitter.com/KhiZe1jVpH

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) April 28, 2024

The D-backs started mounting their comeback in the 7th inning. Joc Pederson hit a one-out double off Gilbert and Eugenio Suárez doubled off the left field wall to plate Pederson with the tying run. It was Suárez's first hit in the series and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

Suarez said he got a cutter up and away from Gilbert and was just happy to help his team win the game. "I was ready. I knew that he was going to throw me that pitch right there. I was looking for a mistake and he did it and I was ready to put my best hit on it"

In the 8th inning, Kevin Newman led off with a walk and Jake McCarthy bunted him over to second. One out later Ketel Marte doubled to the wall in right center, driving in the go-ahead run for the winning 3-2 margin.

This was a much needed clutch hit for Ketel Marte and the #Dbacks

pic.twitter.com/CVl5sYYcCq

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) April 28, 2024

The bullpen was lights out. Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel each retired the side in order. Thompson had two strikeouts, while Mantiply and Ginkel had one each. D-backs pitching struck out 15 Mariners in all, retiring the last 20 Mariners to come to the plate. Mantiply was credited with the win and is 2-1 while Ginkel notched his 5th save out of seven chances.

Torey Lovullo was proud of his team for fighting for today's win, especially against the background of a slew of injuries and setbacks.

"We've had a lot of tough news that we've been dealing with over the course of the last 11 days since we started this road trip. We took it in stride, of course there were some things we didn't do well, we could have won some baseball games. But the bottom line was we fought to win our last game of the series and we're heading home and we're looking forward to that."

The D-backs record improved to 13-16. It doesn't get any easier from here however. Waiting for them in Phoenix will be the first place Los Angeles Dodgers who are 18-12, 4.5 games in front of the Diamondbacks. First pitch Monday night is at 6:40 P.M. Tommy Henry will face James Paxton of the Dodgers.