Can Diamondbacks' Brandon Pfaadt Turn it Around?

The Arizona Diamondbacks took game one of their series with the Boston Red Sox with an impressive eighth-inning surge, as Corbin Carroll reached his 30th homer of the season.

On Saturday at 5:10 p.m., they'll go for the series win behind Brandon Pfaadt, looking to get over .500 for the first time since July 1.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Boston Red Sox Pitching Matchups

RHP Brandon Pfaadt (5.33 ERA) vs RHP Lucas Giolito (3.38 ERA)

Brandon Pfaadt has had a difficult season, to say the least. He's had particular struggles in his last two outings, though he was admittedly going up against two of the tougher clubs in baseball — the Brewers and Dodgers.

He's given up 10 runs on 16 hits and two walks over his last seven innings. He gave up four on eight hits in 4.1 against the Dodgers his last time out.

But he's also shown flashes of dominance. The ability to hold a team down for six or seven innings is in there when his command is at its best. Arizona needs a trademark lengthy start out of Pfaadt on Saturday if they want to earn a series win.

Lucas Giolito, meanwhile, has had a resurgent year, and an incredible month of August. He completed the eighth inning twice in his last six starts, allowing one run between both. He posted a 2.39 ERA for the month, and has been worth +8 Pitching Run Value, per Statcast.

Giolito throws a 93 MPH four-seam nearly 50% of the time. He also relies on a hard slider, a low-80s changeup and an occasional curveball.

Opponents are hitting .187 on the changeup, but strangely slugging it at a .439 clip. The fastball has been hit somewhat hard, with a .271 average against.

Giolito has certainly benefited from both defense and batted ball luck this year. His expected ERA is two ticks shy of 5.00, and his Fielding Independent Pitching is 4.18.

Diamondbacks vs Red Sox Lineup

(Check back later for lineup.)

Diamondbacks vs Red Sox Bullpens

The D-backs turned to Ryan Thompson, Bryce Jarvis, Andrew Saalfrank and Taylor Rashi in Friday's win. None threw more than a full inning, and none threw more than 19 pitches.

Payton Tolle left after just three innings for Boston. Greg Weissert threw 22 pitches over one inning, Chris Murphy threw 43 over three innings, and Justin Slaten gave up four runs in an 18-pitch eighth inning.

Nearly-infallible closer Aroldis Chapman and setup man Garrett Whitlock have not pitched in several days.

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