Pfaadt Struggles Through Rain as Phillies Dampen D-backs

The Arizona Diamondbacks were shut down by the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, losing the series and dropping game two by a score of 7-2. Brandon Pfaadt was jumped on early in rainy conditions, and Arizona's offense failed to contribute.

Pfaadt's outing began in excellent fashion. Despite giving up a single to Trea Turner, Pfaadt racked up three strikeouts of Bryson Stott, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber for an efficient first inning.

But the second brought heavy rain, and trouble for Pfaadt followed. The righty served up two ill-advised fastballs to Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler, the former of which sent the ball deep for a 2-0 Phillies lead.

But then began a downpour. Despite the heavy rain, the game continued without delay. This clearly made it difficult for Pfaadt to grip the baseball, and he began to struggle with command, allowing three more hits for a 3-0 deficit. Philadelphia brought eight men to the plate in the second, yet somehow only managed three runs.

But the game got completely out of hand in the third. Pfaadt hit Schwarber with a pitch and allowed a single to Kepler, and J.T. Realmuto homered to give the Phillies a stress-free 6-0 lead.

Another run came across in the fourth, after Eugenio Suárez sailed a throw to Naylor with two outs and extending the lead to 7-0.

Pfaadt was removed with two outs in the fifth after throwing 93 pitches, and was relieved by lefty Jose Castillo, who surrendered the go-ahead homers in Friday's game. Castillo gave up a single, but then ended the inning without further damage to Pfaadt's line.

Pfaadt finished his day with an ugly line, going 4.2 innings with seven runs (six earned) and striking out six. He gave up nine hits and a walk, and hit two batters. His 2.78 ERA jumped up to 3.79 following the outing.

Castillo gave Arizona some length, going 1.1 scoreless innings and allowing just the one single.

Scott McGough got into his first MLB action of 2025. He tossed a 1-2-3 seventh, and worked around some base traffic for a scoreless eighth. His two innings of work on 37 pitches included just one hit and one walk, and will help keep Arizona's bullpen fresh for Sunday's finale.

The D-backs got some traction offensively off right-hander Aaron Nola early, but once again failed to capitalize. They stranded one in the first and two in the second, and despite driving Nola's pitch count up, still could not come away with the big knock.

They went down without much of a fight as the contest progressed. Alek Thomas doubled in the fifth and Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch, but they were also stranded. Arizona's runs didn't come until the seventh, when Gabriel Moreno singled and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered to make it 7-2.

Gurriel looks to be getting out of his slump, as he added a double in the ninth inning after a lengthy at-bat.

Gurriel, Moreno and Suárez each finished 2-for-4, but the D-backs' top four batters were held without a base hit. Arizona had just four opportunities with runners in scoring position, and went 0-4, extending their RISP slump to 5-for-35 since the beginning of the Mets series.

The Diamondbacks will take on the Phillies for the finale on Sunday at 11:05 a.m.