Miguel Castro, Bad Offense Spoil Brandon Pfaadts Gem

Miguel Castro gave up four runs in 8th inning, the second time he's done that this week, and the Diamondbacks fell to San Diego Padres 4-0. Brandon Pfaadt was magnificent, taking a no hitter into the seventh on the way to completing seven scoreless but it wasn't enough as he received zero run support

Pfaadt threw no hit baseball through the first six and one-third innings before allowing a one-out double to Juan Soto in the 7^th.  After issuing a walk to Manny Machado he gutted through the rest of the inning. He struck out Xander Bogaerts after a mound visit from pitching coach Brent Strom, who exhorted him to throw fastballs. Pfaadt got ahead 0-2 with two well placed heaters and got Bogaerts swinging on a sinker at the bottom of the zone. Pfaadt was helped out of the inning by a terrific sliding catch on a sinking liner from Tommy Pham. 

Pfaadt's final line was 7 IP 1 H, 3 BB, 5K and he threw a season high 107 pitches, 68 for strikes. He lowered his season ERA to 6.13. More importantly, he established that he is a pitcher to be reckoned with going forward.  Questions about his fastball were answered emphatically in this outing, as he threw 58 of them, topping out at 95.7 MPH and firing 64% for them for strikes.  His sweeper was just as good, and Torey Lovullo was effusive in his ability to maintain his stuff late in the outing. The manager was nervous about the pitch count and asked Strom how far he could take him. 

"He had really good stuff and was still throwing 94 MPH through his final pitches.  I felt like [he was crisp] and all systems were go for me. Everybody around me said that he's got gas in the tank." 

Padres starter Seth Lugo couldn’t match Pfaadt in hits and baserunners, he  did matched him in zeroes through the first six inning before he came out of the game. The D-backs had at least one base runner in five of Lugo's six innings but were 0-7 with runners in scoring position with seven left on base against Lugo. They also maddeningly ran themselves out of an inning in the 5^th.

Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo both reached on singles to start the inning. Corbin Carroll reached first base on a force out at second, and Moreno moved up to third. Carroll then got picked off first and while in a rundown first baseman Garrett Cooper threw over to third catching Moreno halfway down the line for a critical out on base.  Ketel Marte walked but Pham struck out to end the inning. 

Lovullo didn't shy away from mentioning the mistake from his rookie outfielder. "The pickoff at first base was not well timed, that was a big moment in this game for sure."

Failure to execute and another out on base cost the D-backs in the 7th as well. Moreno singled to lead off, but Perdomo failed to execute a sacrifice bunt, instead bunting too firmly to Ha-Seong Kim who spun and threw to nab Moreno for a force at second. Then Perdomo was thrown out at second base trying to advance on a deep flyout from Carroll.  That was it for the D-backs chances this game.  Robert Suarez had retired the D-backs in order in the 8th to get the win, and Josh Hader struck out the side in the 9th in a non-save situation.

Castro came in to pitch the 8th and immediately plunked Padres catcher Gary Sanchez.  Pinch hitter Ben Gamel dropped a bunt that Christian Walker couldn't pick up, reaching on a single.  Trent Grisham executed his sac bunt perfectly moving the runners up to second and third. Kim then laced a single into center scoring both runners. Fernando Tatis Jr then smashed a two-run homer, and Castro had coughed up the game on just eight pitches. 

Castro now has been involved in 11 decisions, too many for a late inning setup guy. The loss drops his record to 5-6 with a  5.19 ERA. It was Castro's 57th outing of the year and his 2024 option for $5 million becomes guaranteed with 60 outings. The D-backs have a decision to make.  Lovullo could not point to a specific reason Castro has struggled. he tried to down play a bit what's been happening most recently, (four runs allowed Wednesday in Colorado and four tonight).  "Two outings ago he was crisp and clean in Colorado. He's not that far removed from a really good outing." 

That may be true, but the bigger picture is that Castro has not been consistently effective for some time now.  After posting a 2.13 ERA in his first 27 games he has a 8.28 in his next 30 games.  24 of his first 27 outings (89%) were scoreless, but he's posted zeroes in just 20 of his last 30 outings (67%). 

The two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow as Hurricane Hilary is due to strike the San Diego area on Sunday, so Sunday's game is moved up to Saturday. The first game will be played at 12:10 with Merrill Kelly starting for the D-backs. They will likely go with a bullpen game in the second half of the double header. which starts at 5:40.