Diamondbacks Lose 3-1 Pitcher's Duel to Nationals in Steamy D.C.

Brandon Pfaadt faltered in the 6th inning while Patrick Corbin and the Nationals bullpen shutdown the D-backs offense.

Jun 19, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

1-33. That is the Arizona Diamondbacks record when trailing a game by two or more runs at any point in the game. It seems almost impossible that they have failed to come back in these situations in more than just one game. Last year they were 20-67 in that situation. But they indeed lost 3-1 to the Nationals on Wednesday after holding a 1-0 lead.

Brandon Pfaadt was excellent for five innings, giving up just two singles and a walk while inducing 10 ground ball outs. With his pitch count at just 50 it seemed like he was going to get deep in the game.

Former Diamondback Patrick Corbin almost matched him, lasting five innings in the 90 degree heat with high humidity in the Nation's capital. He allowed just one run in the fourth inning after the D-backs loaded the bases with nobody out. That run scored on a walk by Gabriel Moreno.

Prior to Moreno's RBI walk there was a strange play in which Eugenio Suarez hit a line drive off the glove of shortstop Nasim Nunez. He dropped the ball, but somehow recovered and threw home to nab Lourdes Gurriel Jr at the plate. That pivotal play, plus a strike out from Blaze Alexander and a pop out by Geraldo Perdomo ended the D-backs best chance to put up a crooked number.

Corbin gave way to his bullpen in the sixth while Pfaadt pressed on. Unfortunately the wheels fell off for him in the sixth inning.

Struggling to find his sweeper, Pfaadt issued a couple of one out walks, one of which was erased by Gabriel Moreno on a failed stolen base attempt. Pfaadt then threw a 89.7 MPH fastball in the middle of the plate to Jesse Winker. The ball ended up over the left center field wall for a two-run homer, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead.

Another base hit and a walk in the 7th inning marked the end of Pfaadt's outing. After he was relieved by Kevin Ginkel, former Diamondback Illdemaro Vargas ripped a base hit through the hole into right to score the Nationals third run.

Pfaadt's still finished with a quality start after being charged with three runs in 6.1 innings. Taking the loss, his record falls to 3-6. It was the 8th time a Diamondback starter pitched a quality start and got the loss, which is the most in MLB. Pfaadt has four of those eight "tough losses".

It was an unusual outing for Pfaadt in that he did not record a strikeout and walked four batters. He came into the game with a stellar 84/18 strikeout to walk ratio. Torey Lovullo talked about Pfaadt's outing after the game.

"I don't think it was a really typical Brandon outing with the swing and miss. And I'm fine with that. Because he was just pounding the zone and filling it up, and was getting us back in the dugout. I think this was a day about our offense for me. Our offense had a lot of opportunities and we just couldn't cash in"

There weren't actually that many, outside of the fourth inning. The D-backs had just four hits and drew only three walks. They were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

One highlight was Corbin Carroll's eighth inning double and "forced" error on the centerfielder rushing to cut off the ball. Carroll ended up at third, but was stranded there as Gurriel struck out and Christian Walker grounded to third. Carroll extended his on base streak to 19 games with the hit.

The Nationals have an excellent back end of the bullpen and that was on display in this game. Derek Law threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win, Hunter Harvey threw one scoreless, and Kyle Finnegan closed it out for his 21st save.

The power outage wasn't limited to the Diamondbacks offense. There was an actual power outage at the stadium as well. That lasted only a few minutes, but it knocked out both the Television and Radio broadcasts. The radio was up and running sooner, but the T.V. broadcast took over 30 minutes to restore, leaving fans confused and frustrated.

The D-backs failed once again to get back to .500, as their record falls to 36-38, and they dropped out of the third Wild Card spot as well. The rubber game of the series starts Thursday at 10:05 A.M. Arizona time. Ryne Nelson (4-5, 5.49 ERA) will face MacKenzie Gore (6-5, 3.24 ERA).