Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt was untouchable Friday, allowing two hits over seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win for the visitors at Truist Park.
Pfaadt (7-1) gave up an infield single in the first and another single in the fourth, but that was it. The right-hander struck out seven and has not allowed an earned run in his last 32 2/3 innings pitched.
Of his 87 pitches, Pfaadt threw 64 strikes and worked ahead of 15 of the 23 batters he faced.
The Braves (73-49) were shut out for the eighth time this season and for the first time since June 27.
“Pfaadt’s on a pretty incredible run,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “He really commanded the ball. He was dotting corners. It just goes to show that still works in this league. And if you know how to command the ball and you know where you’re throwing the ball, that’s still very effective.”
Braves starter Chris Sale saw his sensational season continue with six near-spotless innings. He was charged with one run and allowed just five hits while striking out nine. Sale threw 108 pitches, tying a season high (June 4).
In his last six starts, Sale has a 1.85 ERA with 48 strikeouts.
But Sale didn’t get the win because the Diamondbacks (65-58) got a run off Sale in the first and made it last. After Geraldo Perdomo’s single to left, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Corbin Carroll smoked a line drive to left that a charging Mauricio Dubón had go off his glove, allowing Carroll to reach second and Perdomo to go to third.
Perdomo would score on Gabriel Moreno’s groundout to first.
That run went in the books as an earned run for Sale, even though the ball Carroll hit was originally ruled a Dubón error, then later changed to a double.
“I think you saw the first inning tonight, I was kind of letting it rip and it just, it didn’t feel right,” Sale said. “It just felt like I was just kind of out of sync. Like, my body and my arm weren’t really working together. I just realized after that, it was kind of time to (be) more like, ‘Hey, let’s hone in on the mechanics and then start trying to step on the pedal.’”
Sale (12-8) didn’t face any serious trouble again until the sixth when he allowed back-to-back singles. But the lefty struck out the heart of the Diamondbacks’ order to end his night.
His teammates on offense couldn’t pick him up.
“Part of the gig, man. I mean, that’s what we sign up for,” Sale said of being part of Friday’s pitcher’s duel. “You can’t go into a start expecting to get 10 runs every time out. I get fired up for games like this. I enjoy close ballgames. I enjoy one-run games, two-run games, whatever it is. You kind of find out where you’re at there. You’re gonna win some, you’re gonna lose some, but at the end of the day, you got a job to do, and you got to put yourself out there a little bit.”
Braves right-handed reliever Tyler Kinley gave up a solo home run to Tim Tawa in the ninth.
Brandyn Garcia, a Diamondbacks left-hander, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save of the season.
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