The Arizona Diamondbacks suffered a crushing 11-7 defeat to the Washington Nationals, and all eyes are on starter Brandon Pfaadt after his disastrous outing set the tone for the game Pfaadt failed to retire any of the eight batters he faced in the first inning, allowing six hits, two hit batters, and eight earned runs before being pulled without recording an out His ERA ballooned from.90 to.05 in a single night, raising serious questions about his spot in the D-backs’ rotation.
The Nationals capitalized on every mistake, sending men to the plate and scoring runs in the opening frame—a feat that ties a National League record for first-inning scoring futility Arizona’s bullpen was forced into early action, with Ryne Nelson delivering four scoreless innings to stabilize the game, but the damage was already done.
Despite the early collapse, the Diamondbacks’ offense showed fight. Josh Naylor sparked a rally with a two-run homer, and Randal Grichuk added a two-run shot of his own, helping Arizona cut the deficit to four runs by the sixth inning However, a costly baserunning mistake in the eighth killed their momentum, and the comeback ultimately fell short.
With the D-backs rotation in flux and Pfaadt’s struggles mounting, manager Torey Lovullo faces tough decisions ahead as Arizona looks to regroup for the next series.
