Brandon Pfaadt matched an Arizona franchise record by striking out seven batters in a row, showcasing his strong performance as the Diamondbacks improved their playoff chances with a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.
The Diamondbacks are now tied for second place in the NL wild-card standings with the New York Mets, who won against the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6 on Thursday. Both teams are two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves.
Milwaukee had just secured its third NL Central title in four years the night before.
Pfaadt (10-9) achieved a career-high 12 strikeouts while allowing only one run and two hits over seven innings. This was a remarkable turnaround for Pfaadt, who had given up eight runs in just 1 2/3 innings in a 15-8 loss to the Brewers just five nights earlier.
“It was all predicated off the command of his fastball and the aggressiveness in which he set his fastball tone,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.
“That was an unbelievable turnaround and the main reason that we won this game, in my opinion.” Pavin Smith hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning for the Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee’s only run came from Garrett Mitchell’s two-out homer in the seventh. Pfaadt allowed just one other baserunner when he gave up a single to Brice Turang at the start of the fourth inning.
Turang moved to second when Jackson Chourio grounded out, and then Pfaadt struck out the next seven batters from Milwaukee.
The only other Diamondbacks players to strike out seven straight batters in a single game are Hall of Famer Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Johnson did this three times, while Schilling did it once during the Diamondbacks’ championship season in 2001.
“It’s a cool list to be part of,” Pfaadt said. A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez pitched the final two innings to complete the two-hitter. The Diamondbacks broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning, scoring three runs on just one hit.
