PHOENIX -- From just about his first pitch Tuesday night, Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt didn’t feel good about his four-seam fastball.
“In warmups it was high and arm side pretty much the whole time,” Pfaadt said.
The four-seamer is a big part of Pfaadt’s arsenal, but it’s not his only pitch and he was able to quickly transition to using his two-seam sinking fastball almost immediately, getting a called third strike on it with the first batter of the game.
“That became our game plan,” Pfaadt said. “That’s how we rolled with it.”
Behind Pfaadt’s six innings of one-run baseball and Pavin Smith's two-run homer, the Diamondbacks rolled to a 5-1 win over the Rays at Chase Field.
Coming into the game, Pfaadt had thrown his four-seamer 31.6 percent of the time. Tuesday, he threw it just 17 percent of the time. Meanwhile he threw the two-seamer -- which he threw 13 percent of the time in his previous starts -- 33 percent of the time.
"He's a good pitcher,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Mixes the sinker and the four-seamer a little bit. Had the slider going a little bit, but he really leaned heavily on his fastball usage and chased our righties in and worked our lefties away. A couple front-door in there, but just continued to change looks with the fastball. He kept us off-balance."
Pfaadt has been on a nice run for Arizona of late, allowing just two runs over 17 2/3 innings in his last three starts, all Diamondbacks wins. He’s also been a bit of a workhorse for them, lasting at least six innings in four of his five starts -- with the one exception being a 5 2/3 inning outing.
“Six innings, book it” is a phrase that Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has used to describe Pfaadt over the past couple of seasons.
Tuesday, Pfaadt seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Maybe that’s in part from switching from the four-seamer to the two-seamer. Either way, he allowed two hits in the second inning when the Rays scored their only run, then allowed just two more over the next four. And the sixth inning was probably his best and cleanest of the night.
“He's always around the zone,” Lovullo said. “He's always following a game plan. He's always one pitch away from getting an out and getting back into a little bit of a rhythm. He's given us [innings] because he's able to just duplicate his pitches, his sequencing [is good], and he follows the game plan, gets into good rhythm, and he starts chipping away and gets really quick, easy outs.”
Pfaadt didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.
“I think the sixth inning was my best,” Pfaadt said. “Felt the best in the sixth. I think as you go, you get a better feel for your pitches, whether that be off speed or fastball. So I think today we got stronger as we went.”
Smith, meanwhile, has gotten off to a red-hot start for the Diamondbacks and he gave Pfaadt all the runs he would need in the third when he hit his home run.
This is the first time Smith has gotten an extended run in a starting role since making his big league debut in 2020. When Joc Pederson departed via free agency after last season, Smith took over as the left-handed part of a DH platoon.
“I think the main difference this year is just being able to make adjustments quicker,” Smith said. “Obviously I haven't had a stretch yet where I need to make major adjustments, but at the same time, there are certain feels that I can recognize a little easier. I know when I’m off I can make adjustments mid game, where I feel like in years past, it's taken a little longer, and those at-bats seem to pile up. So the ball definitely feels like it's coming in a little slower, which is nice.”