Big Inning Plagues Diamondbacks Again in Tough Loss to Phillies

Runs come in bunches for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Unfortunately, that has also been true for most of their opponents throughout 2026. On Saturday, a four-run inning against right-hander Brandon Pfaadt was all the Philadelphia Phillies needed to send Arizona off to a 4-3 defeat.

The D-backs and Phillies even their series at Citizens Bank Park 1-1, with the finale rubber match coming early on Sunday at 10:35 a.m. local Arizona time.

Diamondbacks' Brandon Pfaadt runs into another big inning

Mar 10, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Such has been an unfortunate marker of Pfaadt's perfomances thus far in his D-backs career. The young right-hander was working efficiently and effectively, but stumbled into an ugly third inning.

It started with an error by shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, though the ball hit at him on the ground was north of 100 MPH. Pfaadt then allowed a single to Phillies rookie Justin Crawford. With one out, Pfaadt threw an ill-placed fastball to Kyle Scwharber, and the lopsided inning was on.

Schwarber's towering three-run blast put the Phillies on top 3-2 after the D-backs had worked a pair of runs off right-hander and former D-back Taijuan Walker in the first inning.

That would not be the end of the damage, as Pfaadt went on to serve up another hittable pitch to Bryce Harper, who hammered a solo home run 419 feet deep to center field.

But as Pfaadt often does, he was still able to provide a six-inning start for Arizona, holding the Phillies off home plate for the next three frames. Pfaadt delivered six innings with four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks in total, with six punchouts of Phillies batters.

The D-backs' bullpen did hold firm, with Kevin Ginkel delivering an encouraging scoreless inning, complete with two strikeouts and a fastball velocity near 96 MPH. Ryan Thompson punched out three in a 1-2-3 eighth.

But Arizona's offense could not quite build an inning the way they had in recent games.

D-backs offense sputters vs Phillies

Apr 11, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte (4) hits a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The D-backs got off to a hot offensive start. Ketel Marte crushed a leadoff homer, earning himself sole possession of the most leadoff homers in franchise history (14). Corbin Carroll, playing in his first game back from hip flexor tightness, walked and scored on an Adrian Del Castillo single.

Del Castillo had the performance of the game offensively, with a 3-for-4 game — while also catching his first game of the year in Gabriel Moreno's absence.

But that would be it for the next six frames. Arizona got one back off the bat of Jose Fernandez, who singled to close the gap to one run in the eighth inning.

But the struggling Nolan Arenado then struck out to strand runners at the corners with a chance to lead or tie, and Arizona went down in order against flamethrowing closer Jhoan Duran.