​The Diamondbacks jumped on Padres starter Walker Buehler early, scoring six runs in the first three innings. Although it was Brandon Pfaadt on the mound, Arizona managed to hold on for the victory, moving back to sole possession of second place in the NL West and returning to a .500 record for the fifteenth time this season.
The D-backs grabbed the lead early, likely as many fans were focused on Team USA’s World Cup exit at Belgium’s hands. Ketel Marte wasted little time, tripling on a misplayed ball in center at Petco. Geraldo Perdomo followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and an errant pickoff throw by Buehler allowed Arizona to bypass the dreaded “hitting with RISP.” Two outs later, Max Kepler delivered the clutch hit, driving in Perdomo to make it 2-0.
That was only the appetizer for what happened in the fourth, which would live on in the “That escalated quickly” memes. With one out, Corbin Carroll lined a ball down the left-field line for a double. Five pitches later, the score jumped to 6-0. Gabriel Moreno singled, Lourdes Gurriel knocked in a run, and Max Kepler belted his first Diamondbacks homer, a three-run shot to right that measured 417 feet. Perdomo followed with his sixth homer of the year, and Nolan Arenado reached double digits with his tenth of the season. Arenado joined Marte and Carroll in the club of multi-homer games.
After a rough June, Arenado’s return to form would be welcome. On the mound, Brandon Pfaadt delivered his best start of the season, earning a Game Score of 65—the second-highest of his career since July 18 of last year. He spun five scoreless innings, walked none, and struck out six, allowing four hits and only one clean inning. All his hits were singles, and no batter reached with a man on third. He could have gone longer, but Arizona is still gradually stretched back out. He threw 66 pitches in his first game back and reached 72 tonight.
When you add Pfaadt’s outing to his previous one, he’s allowed just one run over 10.1 innings since returning. It’s a small sample, and tonight’s opponent wasn’t exactly a threat, as the Padres entered with the NL’s lowest OPS+ at 87. Still, with the loss of Michael Soroka and Corbin Burnes still out, the Arizona rotation will welcome any help. Next up, Pfaadt will face a tougher challenge in his following start.