PHOENIX -- Inning after inning, Brandon Pfaadt kept baffling the Giants lineup. A first-inning walk and a single in the sixth was all the visitors from the Bay Area could muster over nine innings against the 26-year-old right-hander.
Yet somehow, it was not enough for the Diamondbacks to come away with a win as the Giants prevailed, 5-1, in 11 innings to avoid the sweep at Chase Field.
Depits the loss, the Diamondbacks (77-76) kept pace with the Mets (78-74) and remained 1 1/2 games in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot.
With just nine games left on the schedule, every loss is a little extra painful, and to waste such an outstanding pitching performance only added to the misery for Arizona. It was the first time a pitcher had thrown nine or more innings, allowed one or fewer hits and no runs without coming away with a win since Carlos Carrasco on Aug. 4, 2015.
"We unfortunately could capitalize on an unreal start by Brandon Pfaadt," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "He's never pitched that deep into a baseball game, but didn't let it affect him. He went out there and executed an unbelievable game plan and just got into a great rhythm with [catcher James] McCann."
It was the first time in Pfaadt’s career that he had thrown nine innings.
"It felt good to accomplish it, and it was unfortunate that we couldn't get a win," Pfaadt said. "But you know, we're playing good baseball, and a series victory over the Giants at this point in the season is awesome, and hopefully we can keep it rolling."
Pfaadt will get two more starts this year, as Lovullo announced before Wednesday's game that Arizona would be going to a four-man rotation the rest of the season in hopes of making a postseason push.
That means that Nabil Crismatt, who has pitched well as their fifth starter, will shift to the bullpen.
"Nothing against Crismatt," Lovullo said. "He's been throwing the ball extremely well. We felt like there would be some value to getting some dependable length out of the bullpen. The [other] four guys have been leading the charge for us all year long. They've been throwing the ball. Some have been throwing the ball exceptionally well. We want to match up the best way we could against the most critical teams, at the most critical times, and we spent some time on it."
The Diamondbacks have home series against the Phillies and Dodgers coming up, followed by a road series against the Padres to close out the season. By adjusting the rotation, Zac Gallen lines up to get three starts, including the season's final day, while Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Ryne Nelson will get two. Pfaadt's next start will be the series opener against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
Because the Diamondbacks have Thursday off this week and Monday next week, none of the pitchers will have to throw on short rest. A myriad of factors went into the decision.
"If you break it down you'll see there's a strategy to how it happened, why it happened and who's pitching against who," Lovullo said.
The Diamondbacks had plenty of opportunities to push across a run in the first nine innings, as well as in the bottom of the 10th after they held the Giants scoreless in the top half, but were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine baserunners on.
"The name of the game is executing at the most critical times and unfortunately, we couldn't do that," Lovullo said. "Not for lack of effort, not for lack of trying, we know these guys know how to do it. We just couldn't deliver. And that's the frustrating part of this day.
“But we got to remember what our objectives are. My mindset isn't gonna change. Their mindset isn't gonna change. We gotta win baseball games. Plain and simple. I don't care how we do it. We gotta flush this one as fast as possible. This one hurt. This one definitely hurt."