D-backs' Brandon Pfaadt Looks to Avoid Devastating Sweep vs Astros

The Arizona Diamondbacks lost their second straight to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night. Now, they're in danger of entirely undoing the progress made with their second half-opening sweep. On Wednesday, they'll look to prevent being swept at 12:40 p.m.

Arizona is now 50-52 with just seven games to play before the trade deadline.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Houston Astros Pitching Matchup

RHP Brandon Pfaadt (4.82 ERA) vs LHP Brandon Walter (3.66 ERA)

Pfaadt is the latest D-backs starter to hope his recent success hasn't been a fluke.

After he struggled his way through back-to-back brutal months of May and June, he's put forward two of his best starts of the season in his last two outings.

On July 9, he went eight innings for the first time in his career, giving up just two runs in a win. He followed that up with an excellent seven-inning shutout on July 18 against the Cardinals, kicking off what would become an eventual sweep.

Pfaadt has shown exceptional command of his trademark sweeper of late, and has been working with injured ace Corbin Burnes to develop and integrate a cutter into his arsenal.

The Astros are missing many of their key bats, but Wednesday's game does carry pressure for Pfaadt. He'll need to be sharp to avoid a costly sweep and continue his upward trajectory.

The Astros will turn to lefty Brandon Walter, as the D-backs will face their third straight left-handed starter.

Walter has been very good for the Astros in his eight starts this season. He's pitched to a 3.66 ERA and 2.95 expected ERA.

He's pitched back-to-back six-inning Quality Starts, allowing just five hits, one walk and three runs while striking out 14.

Walter throws a balanced arsenal, but leans the most on an 88 MPH cutter. He also has a sweeper, low-90s four-seam, changeup and sinker.

Strangely, the cutter has been hit the hardest. Opponents are slugging .667 against the pitch. Still, he's been successful at limiting walks (1.6% walk rate), collecting strikeouts (9.06 K/9), and preventing hard contact.

Diamondbacks vs Astros Lineups

(Check back later for lineups.)

Diamondbacks vs Astros Bullpens

The Diamondbacks used Kevin Ginkel, Jake Woodford and Kyle Backhus on Tuesday. Woodford threw 32 pitches and should be down, but Backhus threw just nine and Ginkel 14.

In event of a close game, both may be available.

The Astros used setup men Bryan Abreu and Bryan King to close down the game without having to turn to closer Josh Hader, who pitched Monday.

Neither threw more than 13 pitches, and both may be available along with Hader.

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