Arizona Diamondbacks 2, Cincinnati Reds 4: Pfloss

The dog days of summer are here, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are about to conclude their most disappointing road trip of the season. In fact, their record for the month of July now stands at 5-and-11 which would be their first calendar month below .500 all season unless they go on a tear this last week. But isn’t that what playoff teams do? If they want their shot at postseason baseball, they will need to put a stop to this recent trend before it is too late.

Brandon Pfaadt made his return to the rotation from AAA Reno following a handful of injuries to the D’backs pitching staff. His results at the Major League level have been less than stellar, but today would be a step in the right direction for him. Despite the loss he kept the D’backs offense within striking distance to win this game. Sometimes the bats need to do their part in picking up a young starter and that did not happen. Pfaddt’s opponent on the bump was another rookie hurler for the Cincinnati Reds in Brandon Williamson.

Pfaadt managed to load the bases in the bottom of the first allowing the first three Reds to reach base. Afterwards, he set down the next sixteen batters in a row which again gave the Arizona offense plenty of opportunity to take over. The only problem was that Brandon Williamson was just as stingy allowing only two D’backs baserunners, a walk and a single, through five innings.

Arizona scored first in the top of the sixth after a leadoff double from Jake McCarthy who was subsequently scored by a Ketel Marte single in the next at bat. Apparently that run served to bring the Reds’ bats back from the dead as they hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom half of the sixth courtesy of TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, and Jake Fraley.

Both pitchers saw their day conclude following the sixth inning. Corbin Carroll hit his twentieth home run of the season in the top of the ninth, a solo shot, but it would not be enough to overcome the Cincinnati Reds who secured at a guaranteed series victory with a 4-2 win.

FanGraphs