Brandon Pfaadt pitched superbly for seven innings, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a crucial hit with an RBI double in the eighth, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks won two out of three games in the series and have now won five out of six games against the Reds this season.
Pinch hitter Pavin Smith kickstarted the Diamondbacks’ rally with a double to right field with two outs. Gurriel then followed with another double to right field, just beyond the reach of a diving Jake Fraley.
Paul Sewald closed out the game in the ninth inning, securing his second save of the season, while Ryan Thompson pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
“It feels great, especially going into a day off with some momentum,” said Smith. “Our pitchers, Pfaadt, Thompson, Sewald, all did an amazing job today. It’s good to see that effort pay off.”
The Diamondbacks, last year’s National League champions, have won seven of their last ten games.
Ketel Marte of Arizona extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a leadoff single in the first inning. Christian Walker then gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his eighth home run of the season.
Pfaadt sailed smoothly through the first 4 2/3 innings without allowing any hits, but Santiago Espinal broke the shutout with one swing, hitting a hanging pitch into the left field seats to tie the game at 1-1.
Pfaadt only surrendered one more hit in the next two innings, walking two batters and striking out nine.
“Our strategy was to rely more on sliders, and we stuck to that plan,” Pfaadt said. “It worked really well. Going forward, we’ll likely continue to focus on pitching off the slider a bit more.”
Cincinnati’s left-handed pitcher, Andrew Abbott, matched Pfaadt’s performance through seven innings, giving up one run and four hits. He struck out four batters and walked two. Fernando Cruz (1-4) took the loss, as he allowed the game-deciding doubles.
