PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks played much closer to the standard they’ve strived for on Wednesday in a 9-0 shellacking of the Baltimore Orioles.
It was a performance manager Torey Lovullo called the most complete of the season “by far,” and not only due to the final score at Chase Field.
Brandon Pfaadt threw six shutout innings, attacking with all five pitches. The offense gave him plenty of run support in a five-run fifth frame that blew the game open. Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor each hit home runs.
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The defense, meanwhile, was much cleaner, particularly in the outfield.
“A complete effort, you look for this type of game at every turn, and especially when we’re not playing up to our standards and we’re grinding,” Lovullo said.
“Things have lingered for five to seven games and the fact that we finally put together some really good offensive approaches with some good pitching, solid base running, the defense played well today, this was D-back baseball. This is who we are. So we want to continue to go out there and do what we do best and play this type of game. If we do, we’re gonna win a lot of them.”
The D-backs entered this week’s homestand frustrated by how their weekend in Washington concluded, and Monday’s 5-1 loss did not provide much relief. The complimentary team performance over the last two wins were much improved.
“It seemed like a good road trip until that last day and it kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Smith said. “It didn’t start well on Monday, but we turned it around.”
Brandon Pfaadt effective vs. Orioles
Merrill Kelly delivered a quality start on Tuesday, and Pfaadt followed with his best of three performances so far.
Pfaadt snapped Arizona’s six-game streak of allowing runs in the first inning with a 1-2-3 frame, and his offense responded by getting him a 1-0 lead.
Working ahead, Pfaadt efficiently worked through his outing, only allowed four hits with two walks, which came on back-to-back plate appearances in the fourth inning. He avoided giving up the big hit, escaping the jam with a tight lead intact.
“ I think it was a good overall team win,” Pfaadt said. “When the bats come out firing like they did, it’s easier on our side to pitch and play defense. I felt good. I felt like I was commanding pitches. Hit a weird spot with two walks in a row, but (catcher Jose Herrera) got me back on track and we were able to keep attacking.”
Pfaadt balanced his arsenal on Wednesday using all five pitches at least 15 times and drawing whiffs on all of them.
Brandon Pfaadt, Dirty 84mph Curveball…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/hqoBETlrx3
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 9, 2025
“I felt like there was good fastball presence,” Lovullo said. “We talked about initiating the curveball … and he just had a good feel for all of his pitches today.”
The Diamondbacks have received consecutive quality starts for the first time this season, and Wednesday marked the club’s first shutout victory.
The bullpen continued to provide quality innings, as Jalen Beeks and Bryce Jarvis sat down all nine batters they faced. Arizona relievers have a combined 2.93 ERA in 46 innings this year.
Top of Diamondbacks’ lineup crushes Orioles
Carroll, Perdomo, Smith and Naylor lined up 1-4 on the batting order and finished the game 11-for-17 with seven RBIs between them.
Carroll started the game 2-for-2 with a 106 mph single, followed by a 106 mph home run to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning. He grounded out in his next at-bat on a ball he hit 100 mph. Everything is coming off the bat on fire.
“I feel good,” Carroll said. “Hitting a lot of balls hard in the air, off the ground, some line drives. That’s been really positive and trying to keep that going.”
Corbin Carroll is on fire ?
He cranks his 5th homer of the season ? pic.twitter.com/GKqUVF27Ko
— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2025
Carroll has 10 extra-base hits through his first 13 games, which is a feat only six Diamondbacks have accomplished previously: Luis Gonzalez (2001), Reggie Sanders (2001), Troy Glaus (2005), Kelly Johnson (2010), Chris Young (2012) and David Peralta (2019), per Stathead.
With a 1.164 OPS and five home runs so far, Carroll has been one of the best hitters in baseball, which is particularly needed with co-star Ketel Marte on the injured list.
Behind him, Perdomo, Smith and Naylor provided three hits each.
Smith and Naylor hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning off Orioles starters Dean Kremer, both their first of the season. Smith is batting .400 through 12 games, while Naylor is tied for the team lead in both hits and walks.
Back-to-back tanks for Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor ? pic.twitter.com/50Wf37ATzS
— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2025
“Good at-bats are contagious,” Naylor said. “Hard hits are contagious. You see one guy do it and it’s like, why can’t I do it? I always think of baseball in that sense, it’s a very contagious game whether on offense or defense. You just continue to play hard and wait for your chance.”
The Diamondbacks will need some better outcomes from the bottom half of the order, but Wednesday provided some moments of levity.
Jake McCarthy delivered a double and scored a run, snapping an 0-for-24 start to the season. Rookie Tim Tawa drove in two runs with a single to left.
Overall the Diamondbacks picked up 14 hits, six extra-base hits and three walks against Orioles pitching.
“ I think when everyone’s hitting, it wears the pitcher down,” Carroll said. “With a lineup like ours, it has a lot of depth. It’s just not a lot of breaks. When we can keep our foot on the pedal and it does a lot.”
Even in a blowout, the lineup tacked on late runs. During that time of the game Lovullo watched with pride at the effort he saw from a team that had been frustrated by an inconsistent start, one that knows it can be much better.
“ I look up and there’s focus late in the game,” Lovullo said.
“Nobody’s giving away at-bats. There’s a zero in that error column. We’re running the bases aggressively. Take a look at Pavin’s base hit to right-center field. Out of the box, he’s thinking two. He had to slow down around first base to make sure he didn’t run into an out. Those are the types of things I’m watching outside of results that tell me this team is focused and engaged. When we are focused and engaged, we’re damn good.”
Diamondbacks next game
The D-backs get an off day on Thursday and return to Chase Field on Friday to start a three-game weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Eduardo Rodriguez will start on Friday, and Corbin Burnes will make his home debut for the D-backs on Saturday.
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