The Diamondbacks took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Rogers Centre on Tuesday, but Toronto Blue Jays Bo Bichette and Addison Barger hit back-to-back home runs off Arizona closer Shelby Miller for a walk-off win, 5-4.
Miller needed two more outs for the save, but a couple of splitters down in the zone were golfed out, the third walk-off loss of the year for Arizona. Miller has four blown saves this season compared to seven saves, as he has been entrusted with the ninth inning due to Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk suffering elbow injuries.
As a team, the D-backs have 14 blown saves, which leads the National League.
The Diamondbacks overcame an early 2-0 deficit to go up 4-2, but they have dropped back to .500 at 36-36 with a second straight loss.
BACK-TO-BACK HOMERSBLUE JAYS WIN #WALKOFF pic.twitter.com/dGfRZhvtlO
— MLB (@MLB) June 18, 2025
Brandon Pfaadt’s bend-don’t-break performance
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D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt recorded his first quality start since May 19.
Pfaadt was wobbly early, giving up back-to-back doubles in the first inning and a pair of hard-hit fly outs — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. helped him out with a sliding catch in left. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a tank, a 448-foot blast, in the third to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
Pfaadt also hit three batters with pitches, all left-handers. It was only the 10th game in D-backs history for a pitcher to bean three hitters, the first since Zac Gallen in 2022.
All that said, Pfaadt managed to get through six innings with two earned runs on four hits. Despite some hard-hit balls early, his average exit velocity on 16 balls in play was 85 mph, which is excellent.
Four hits allowed were his fewest in a start since that May 19 outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, at which point he owned a 3.28 ERA.
He was far from perfect on Tuesday, but Pfaadt is starting to distance himself from that disaster against Washington.
Pfaadt only threw 81 pitches.
Diamondbacks put up runs with two outs
The D-backs scored three of their four runs with two outs on RBI knocks from Pavin Smith, Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez.
Ketel Marte’s single in the fourth tied the game after Corbin Carroll whizzed from first to third, drawing a throw from Barger in right field. The throw skipped away and out of play, giving Carroll a free pass home.
Naylor came up with two outs later in the inning and blasted a deep fly ball off the wall in center field to score Marte and take a 3-2 lead.
Suarez had a quirky game, getting hit by two pitches, the first Diamondbacks player to do so this season. In the seventh inning, Suarez punched a 1-2 slider up into center field for an insurance run.
The offense as a whole left 10 runners on base, which comes back to bite.
Josh Naylor, Andres Gimenez check on Myles Straw
Blue Jays center fielder Myles Straw went back on Naylor’s fly ball and was unable to catch it. He crashed into the wall and appeared to have twisted his ankle.
Naylor put his hands on his head while coasting into second base after seeing his former teammate go down.
Naylor and Blue Jays second baseman Andres Gimenez trekked from the infield out to the center-field wall to check on Straw, who left the game with a sprained ankle. The three were teammates with the Cleveland Guardians from 2021-24.
Toronto is already down its starting center fielder, as former D-back Daulton Varsho is on the injured list (hamstring).
Highlight-reel catches
After Gurriel’s slide in the first inning, Marte and Alek Thomas added a pair of highlight-worthy grabs. Marte in the second inning robbed Ernie Clement of a bloop single with a smooth backhand catch over his shoulder.
Ketel Marte made this look too easy ? pic.twitter.com/byiIt3FQAM
— MLB (@MLB) June 17, 2025
In the seventh, Thomas raced back to the warning track and had to twist his body mid-air to catch a deep fly ball from Davis Schneider.
Diamondbacks’ next game
Wednesday brings up a battle of left-handers, as Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start against Toronto’s Eric Lauer. Arizona has not faced a left-handed starter since June 6 in Cincinnati.
First pitch is at 4:07 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
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