PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt did not feel his sharpest warming up for Tuesday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, but you couldn’t tell by watching him cruise for six innings in a 5-1 victory.
Home runs by Pavin Smith and Tim Tawa pushed the Diamondbacks ahead, as Arizona (14-9) kicked off its six-game homestand with a clean win in two hours and 21 minutes.
Pfaadt allowed one run on four hits, striking out five batters without a single walk. He has given the Diamondbacks six innings in four of his five starts this season, the exception being a 5.2-frame outing with one run allowed against the Miami Marlins.
The Diamondbacks have a four-game winning streak when he starts for the first time in his career.
“I think just going deep in games,” Pfaadt said has been key. “Obviously, credit to our offense for helping that be the case … I wouldn’t be getting wins if it weren’t for that.”
Pfaadt retired the first five Rays batters he faced before Kameron Misner poked a grounder down the third-base line against a shifted infield for a double. Jake Mangum singled the run home for a 1-0 lead, and from there Pfaadt pushed through 4.1 scoreless innings with two hits allowed.
His ERA is down to 2.73.
The right-hander said his fastball did not feel sharp in warmups, so he leaned on the sinker. He struck out a pair of Rays batters looking with the sinker in the first two innings.
“It’s a huge advantage to have, so we threw that a lot today,” Pfaadt said. “Then in the sixth we were able to jump back on the four-seam and get that thing rolling. So it felt good once we settled in.”
“He’s always around the zone,” manager Torey Lovullo added. “That’s been him. Six innings, book it.”
Pavin Smith is lighting the ball on fire for the D-backs
The Diamondbacks loudly took the lead in the third inning when Smith crushed a 3-2 fastball 420 feet off Rays starter Zack Littell for a two-run shot. The pitch was a ball above the zone that he walloped.
Smith already doubled in the first inning and later walked and scored a run in the eighth.
His .397 batting average ranks second in MLB among players with at least 40 plate appearances, trailing New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge (.411). He also increased his on-base clip to .500.
Pavin Smith is hitting .404 this season after this go-ahead home run! 😱 pic.twitter.com/tWCuzIKdOL
— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2025
“I think the main difference this year is just being able to make adjustments quicker,” Smith said. “Obviously, I haven’t had a stretch where I’ve needed to make major adjustments, but at the same time, there’s certain feels I can recognize a little easier.”
Smith said the ball appears to be moving a bit slower this year.
Diamondbacks leadership has long shown confidence that Smith would produce at the plate even with mixed results in the past. With an opening for a left-handed designated hitter, another opportunity emerged for him.
Smith said he learned from Joc Pederson last year how to handle being a DH, particularly how he would let go at-bats that did not go well. Finding a rhythm between plate appearances with assistant hitting coach Travis Denker helps him do that.
“He’s on every pitch,” Lovullo said. “The balls he’s swinging over and he’s missing, he’s just barely missing. He’s right on it. … He’s able to get on top of a high fastball in a tough situation with the base open after it looked like a pitch around situation, and he climbed all over it.”
Tawa provided an insurance run in the fifth inning with his third career MLB home run, a 108 mph line drive that just cleared the wall in left.
Walks by Corbin Carroll and Smith set up Josh Naylor for a rocket RBI single to right in the eighth inning off Rays reliever Mason Englert. Smith scored on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. sacrifice fly.
After scoreless innings from Arizona relievers Ryan Thompson and Jalen Beeks, Juan Morillo made his Chase Field debut in the ninth.
Shelby Miller had been warming up for a potential save, but with a four-run lead, the D-backs turned to the rookie who made his MLB debut on Saturday.
Morillo, a non-roster invitee in spring training, struck out Misner on a 99 mph heater to end the game.
Where was Justin Martinez?
Lovullo had mentioned pregame that he expected reliever Justin Martinez to be ready after he sat out the weekend series in Chicago with fatigue.
Miller getting up instead of Martinez signaled Martinez would need more time.
Lovullo said postgame that Martinez has been dealing with some right shoulder fatigue, nothing that requires imaging but something to manage. The team wants to be cautious, particularly considering A.J. Puk — who has been splitting saves with Martinez — just underwent an MRI for elbow inflammation.
“J-Mart’s OK,” Lovullo said. “We probably need one more day. … He’s close to 100%. We’re just going to take our time with that and behind what’s going on with A.J., we just want to make sure. … I told you guys today he’d most likely be ready. I feel the same way about tomorrow.”
When asked if this could be a dead arm situation, which can be caused by fatigue, Lovullo said it could be.
Diamondbacks-Rays mirrored history
The Diamondbacks and Rays (formerly Devil Rays) both entered the league as expansion teams in 1998. Incredibly, they each entered Tuesday with 1,200 regular season victories and 28 postseason wins.
Diamondbacks next game
The D-backs and Rays (9-14) will continue their series on Wednesday. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (4.09 ERA) will throw for Arizona against Tampa Bay right-hander Taj Bradley (5.24 ERA).
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
