Sept. 19 – The Arizona Diamondbacks will turn to right-hander Brandon Paffitt as they continue their quest to make the playoffs in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday against the host Milwaukee Brewers.
Pfaadt (9-9, 4.81 ERA) struck out eight in 1 2/3 innings in Phoenix five days ago against the Brewers in the only start of his career. His opponent will be right-handed rookie Tobias Myers (8-5, 3.07), who won that game.
Earlier Wednesday, Milwaukee won its second consecutive National League Central title after the Chicago Cubs lost to the Oakland Athletics. Hours later, the Brewers celebrated the title in impressive fashion by beating Philadelphia 2-1 on Jack Bowles’ ninth-inning single.
“I hope we can get a good handle on the situation, celebrate, and then start looking forward and go through the next phase,” Brewers first-year manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday. “This is a special group of guys who believed at one time.
“I hope they continue to believe.”
The Phillies (91-61) hold a one-game lead over the Dodgers (90-62) for the best record in the National League. Milwaukee (88-64) trails Los Angeles by two games. The top two teams will receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Arizona State (84-68) beat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 on Wednesday, as Corbin Carroll hit two home runs. Eduardo Rodriguez allowed only two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out 11 and allowed one base hit.
The Diamondbacks are tied with the New York Mets (84-68) for the second wild-card spot and are 2 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres (87-66).
If the postseason began on Thursday, the Brewers and Diamondbacks would face off in a wild-card series.
“If you would have told me in spring training that we would be in that position with 10 games left, I would have signed up every time,” Arizona head coach Torey Lovullo said Wednesday. “We know what we need to accomplish in our dugout, in our clubhouse.”
Milwaukee won two of three games in Arizona last week before returning home to face the Phillies. The Diamondbacks saved their final game on Sunday with an 11-10 win in 10 innings.
In his last outing against the Diamondbacks and Paffett, Myers allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings in a 15-8 win. He is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his last seven starts.
Pfeffer allowed eight runs on seven hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings in Saturday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He went 1-2 with an 11.25 ERA in three starts this month.
“(Saturday’s loss) was a total lack of pitching execution, missed pitches in the middle of the zone, lack of command of our secondary, too many turnovers for a team that just wants to fight you, don’t give up,” Lovullo later told Arizona Sports.
Arizona’s offense has reached historic levels. The Diamondbacks averaged 6.37 runs per game after the All-Star break on Wednesday, second only to the 1953 Dodgers (6.41) in National League history and eighth overall.
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