Diamondbacks Slump Deepens in Blowout Loss to Astros

Brandon Pfaadt faltered in the fifth, Framber Valdez stymied the offense, and Jose Herrera got hurt as D-backs drop series opener 8-0

Sep 6, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) gets a visit from a pitching coach between pitches against the Houston Astros in the third inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks were blown out Friday night by the Houston Astros 8-0. Their record dropped to 79-63 and the lead over the Braves and Mets in the NL Wild Card standings has shrunk to just 1.5 games. Both of those teams hold the tie breaker over Arizona due to head to head records.

The D-backs appear to have suffered injury in addition to insult as well. Catcher Jose Herrera had to be removed from the game after being hit on the top of the head by the backswing of Kyle Tucker. He was down for several minutes and looked glassy eyed as he walked off the field.

UPDATE: Torey Lovullo said after the game Herrera passed through protocols and is fine and will even be in the lineup tomorrow.

Brandon Pfaadt struggled in the fifth inning once again. He had managed to work around eight baserunners in the first three innings with only one run allowed. It looked like he might have found it when he struck out two in the fourth, retiring the side in order.

But the fifth inning bug bit him, as it so often does. Singles by Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve set up Yordan Alvarez. The big left fielder got a fastball up and in, and launched it 407 feet into the right field bleachers for a three-run homer. His by inning split tells a story of a player that might get fatigued past the fourth inning.

Inning one through four Pfaadt has a 2.57 ERA, but innings five through seven that balloons to 8.32 due to 49 earned runs in 53 innings from the 5th through 7th.

Pfaadt faced three more batters but did not finish the fifth inning for just the third time in 28 starts. His final line was 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. His record goes to 9-8, and his ERA climbs to 4.42.

With 165 innings thrown in just his second major league season, Pfaadt appears to have hit a wall, posting a 6.25 ERA over his last eight starts.

The offense meanwhile was completely shut down by Astros left-hander Framber Valdez. He allowed an infield single in the third to Geraldo Perdomo. The second hit off him did not come until Eugenio Suarez singled to center in the seventh. Valdez walked three, but the D-backs only had one runner in scoring position against him all night.

That's not how the Diamondbacks drew it up. Christian Walker and Ketel Marte were in the lineup together for the first time since July 29th. Neither had a hit, but Walker drew two walks and Marte had one base on balls.

Corbin Carroll's on-base streak in 44 consecutive starts came to an end with an 0-4 night including two strikeouts. The Diamondbacks were out-hit 12-2.

Jordan Montgomery entered in the sixth inning and gave up four runs, including Alvarez' second three-run homer of the game. The first couple of hits in the inning were due to some bad luck, with a broken bat blooper and swinging bunt bleeder. But a middle zone changeup to Altuve was smacked for an RBI single, and the pitch to Alvarez was a middle-middle 92 MPH sinker.

The left-hander with the $25 million contract and a player option for $22.5 million more next year appears no closer to rejoining the rotation.

The D-backs have lost six of their last nine games, and the hot streak coming out of the All-Star break are a quickly fading memory. They'll try to get it going on Saturday behind Eduardo Rodriguez. Yusei Kikuchi starts for the Astros. Game time is 1:10 p.m. Arizona Time.