Brandon Pfaadt, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last three starts, will take the mound on Friday when the visiting Arizona Diamondback begin a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.
It’s a big series for Arizona, which is tied for the final wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks just lost two of three at home against Colorado. Atlanta won its series with the New York Mets and has a 9 1/2-game lead in the National League East; the Braves are one game behind Milwaukee for the top record in the league.
The teams split a four-game series in April.
Pfaadt (6-1, 3.36 ERA) has gone 25 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. The right-hander gave up an unearned run on Aug. 3 against San Diego and threw seven scoreless innings in his last outing on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Pfaadt has produced eight straight starts of two runs or fewer since returning from a stint at Triple-A Reno. He is 6-0 with a 1.32 ERA during that span.
“Since he’s come back, he’s absolutely filling up the zone with a fastball, a two-seamer, a cutter and then ripping breaking balls,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s got great presence. He’s like, ‘Give me the baseball. You’re out.’ That’s part of being a good pitcher, standing on the mound, getting that baseball in the hand and saying, ‘You’re out.'”
In five career starts against the Braves, Pfaadt is 2-0 with a 5.68 ERA. He has faced the Braves once this year and only pitched 4 2/3 innings. He received no decision after allowing three runs in a game Atlanta won 6-5 in 10 innings.
Pfaadt has had trouble retiring Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin, who is 5-for-8 (.625) with a home run against him.
Atlanta has not announced its starting pitcher for the series opener, but left-hander Chris Sale (12-7, 2.20 ERA) should be up for his turn in the rotation. His last time out, Sale allowed three runs and struck out eight in six innings but was saddled with the loss in a 5-4 setback against the New York Yankees.
In six career games (five starts) against Arizona, Sale is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA.
The Braves have been boosted since the All-Star break by the return to form of third baseman Austin Riley, along with starter Tyler Mahle, reliever Brent Suter and outfielder Lane Thomas, a trio of low-key roster additions made at the trade deadline.
Riley was hitting .207 before the break, but is batting .292 in 25 games since and has lifted his average to .225. He is batting .351 with three homers and eight RBIs in 11 games in August.
“Just getting back to basics,” Riley said. “There’s been some stuff to work on but working really hard in the cage and seeing some results on the field has been nice for sure.”
Mahle has been terrific in both starts since being acquired from San Francisco. The right-hander opened with six scoreless innings against the Yankees and worked six frames against the Mets on Wednesday before his scoreless innings streak ended at 11.
“The two starts have been unbelievable,” Riley said. “I’ve faced him numerous times and glad I’m not having to right now. It’s fun to play behind him.”
Thomas, acquired from Kansas City as a right-handed hitting platoon piece in left field, hit his first home run for his new team on Wednesday.
“He’s been doing that for a while,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “He handles left-handed pitching really well. He can hit righties, too, but he’s really a threat against lefties especially.”
Suter has made two appearances and allowed one run over five innings.
–Field Level Media
