Cubs' late comeback sinks Diamondbacks, spoils Brandon Pfaadt's strong outing

CHICAGO — This time last year, Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt had made six career starts in the majors. He owned a 9.82 ERA. He had been touted as a high-probability mid-rotation starter. He had looked nothing like one.

It was almost exactly a year ago that Pfaadt’s turnaround in the majors began, one that continued on Sunday afternoon, when he turned in seven shutout innings and outdueled Chicago Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga at a picturesque Wrigley Field.

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, it did not produce a victory. Pfaadt handed a one-run lead to his bullpen, but with three of the club’s most-trusted, late-inning relievers unavailable after pitching in back-to-back games, closing duties fell to Justin Martinez, who could not seal the deal in the ninth. The Diamondbacks went on to lose, 2-1, in 10 innings.

Instead of a sweep, the Diamondbacks had to settle for taking two of three, and, at 51-49 and in a virtual tie for the final wild-card spot, they will head to Kansas City to face another playoff contender in the Royals for three games.

Pfaadt was fantastic. He gave up just one hit and one walk, striking out seven. He threw at least six innings for the 13th time in his past 15 games, a stretch in which he has 11 quality starts.

It is quite the reversal from last year. Pfaadt spent the first few weeks of July in the minors before being recalled on July 22, 2023, to face the Reds in Cincinnati. He allowed three runs in six innings, finishing the year with a respectable 4.22 ERA over his final 13 games (12 starts). He followed that up with a breakout postseason in which he logged a 3.27 ERA in five starts.

Over the past 365 days, Pfaadt has handled a full starter’s workload, taking the ball 33 times (32 starts). He has logged 190⅔ innings. He has pitched to a 3.92 ERA. He has been, without question, a quality, mid-rotation starter.

“The run he got on in September and in the postseason I felt like he was poised and ready to be able to do something like that,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know I say it every time but it’s like six innings, just book it. He’s going to pitch you deep into the game and he knows how to change speeds and maneuver the baseball around the zone. There’s great mound presence and a lot of composure.”

More than that, Pfaadt has been the Diamondbacks’ most dependable pitcher this season. For one, he has taken the ball every five days. Moreover, he has pitched deeper into games more consistently than anyone on the staff; he ranks fifth in the National League in innings pitched.

And he seems to be getting better as the year goes along, his velocity creeping up as his results are improving. Over his past seven starts he has a 2.14 ERA, with 12 walks and 35 strikeouts in 42 innings.

On Sunday, he mixed his customary fastball/slider combo with more change-ups than usual.

“I felt like I had everything going today,” Pfaadt said. “I threw the change-up a lot today. The change-up was good, the slider was good. I think we were able to locate my fastball when needed in big spots. I think that was a game-changer today.”

Eugenio Suarez’s solo homer off Imanaga, who also went seven innings, was the Diamondbacks’ only offensive output of the day, but it looked like it might be enough when Lovullo called on Martinez to open the ninth with a 1-0 lead.

Over the previous two days, the Diamondbacks had used the same four relievers — Kevin Ginkel, Martinez, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald — in a pair of wins over the Cubs. Lovullo described it as “selling out” for a series victory to preserve Saturday’s 3-0 win.

As such, Martinez was the only one of the four who was available on Sunday, but he was pitching for the third consecutive day for the first time in his career. It did not go well. He gave up a leadoff double to Nico Hoerner and, two batters later, a game-tying single to Seiya Suzuki.

Lovullo said he had no regrets about he way he handled his bullpen on Saturday, even when it came to the idea of perhaps holding back one of the four relievers to have them for Sunday.

“If I knew what was going to happen today I would have chosen today over yesterday and switched them up,” Lovullo said. “But that’s the beauty of this game. I don’t regret it at all. We won a series. We’re going to continue to fight and win more games.”

After the Diamondbacks failed to score in the top of the 10th, the Cubs walked it off in the bottom of the inning, with Hoerner drawing a bases-loaded walk off Diamondbacks reliever Humberto Castellanos to end it.

The offense deserves just as much blame as the bullpen. The Diamondbacks managed just five baserunners on Sunday — two hits, two walks and a hit batter — and had only three at-bats with a runner in scoring position. And if the offense could have done a little more on Saturday, Lovullo likely wouldn’t have felt compelled to use all of his relievers then, either.

“You can play it out a thousand different ways,” Lovullo said. “but we won two games in a very tough environment and against a very good team, a well-run team. I’ll take that.”

Manager Torey Lovullo uses off night to watch his son manage in minor leagues

CHICAGO — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo took advantage of an off night on Friday to zip over to nearby South Bend, Indiana, to watch his son, Nick, manage a minor league game.

Nick Lovullo, 30, is in his third season as a coach in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system and his first as manager for their High-A affiliate in South Bend.

“It was a really proud dad moment, for sure,” Torey Lovullo said.

He said he tried to just take in the game as a parent would and watch things “through a different lens.” He even had some popcorn and Dippin’ Dots.

But old habits can be hard to break. Lovullo said he picked off the opposing team’s signs after their manager called four pickoff attempts in an eight-pitch span.

“I told my son, ‘This is what their signs are,’” Lovullo said. “I said, ‘Be ready, if you guys want to steal some bases, this is what you look for.’ That’s just how my eyes are trained.”

Monday’s Diamondbacks-Royals pitching matchup

Diamondbacks at Royals, 5:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Yilber Diaz (1-0, 1.50) vs. Royals LHP Cole Ragans (6-6, 3.16).

At Kauffman Stadium: Diaz has given up just one run in six innings in both of his big league starts so far, first against the Atlanta Braves, then against the Toronto Blue Jays last weekend. … In 15 starts in the minors, he issued 4.5 walks per nine innings. He has walked only three batters in 12 innings (2.3 walks per nine) so far in the majors. … He has averaged 96.1 mph with his fastball, a pitch he has thrown 60.6% of the time, while also leaning heavily on his slider, eliciting a whopping 46.7% whiff rate on the pitch. Opposing hitters have yet to record a hit against his slider. … Ragans was traded from the Rangers to the Royals around this time last year and has since emerged as one of the better starting pitchers in the American League. He pitched on Tuesday for the AL in the All-Star Game, throwing a scoreless inning. … He has never faced the Diamondbacks. … His repertoire includes a fastball at 95.8 mph along with a change-up, cutter, slider and curveball. He gets whiffs on 49.3% of the swings against his change-up, making it one of the more effective pitches in baseball.

Coming up

Tuesday: At Kansas City, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Jordan Montgomery (6-5, 6.44) vs. Royals RHP Alec Marsh (7-6, 4.52).

Wednesday: At Kansas City, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-6, 4.78) vs. Royals RHP Michael Wacha (7-6, 3.55).

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (7-5, 3.64) vs. Pirates LHP Martin Perez (1-5, 5.61).

What to know about the Kansas City Royals

The Royals lost 106 games last year, the second-most in the majors, but they are on an 88-win pace this season. They spent heavily in the offseason, landing a pair of key arms for their rotation in RHP Seth Lugo (2.48 ERA) and RHP Michael Wacha (3.55 ERA). SS Bobby Witt Jr. has emerged as one of the better players in baseball. He has a .332 average, 17 homers and 22 steals and has played solid defense at shortstop. C Salvador Perez, at age 34, continues to produce at the plate, hitting .283 with 17 homers. The Royals, though, have some soft spots. Their .635 OPS out of their outfield is tied with the White Sox for the lowest in the majors. Their bullpen has also had issues, ranking 20th out of 30 teams with a 4.22 ERA. They have already added relief help, acquiring RHP Hunter Harvey in a trade with the Nationals last weekend. The Royals entered Sunday percentage points behind the Boston Red Sox for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cubs' late comeback sinks Diamondbacks, spoils Brandon Pfaadt's strong outing