The Diamondbacks showed up in St. Louis on Thursday and left with a 10-6 win, finishing off the Cardinals in a makeup game that had been pushed back earlier this month. What was supposed to be an off day turned into another strong showing for an Arizona team that’s suddenly getting big results from both the lineup and Brandon Pfaadt.
Pfaadt had to work through a messy first inning, and it wasn’t because the Cardinals were barreling everything up. The contact wasn’t loud, but the hits kept finding grass, and St.
Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead with nobody out. That kind of start could have spiraled earlier in the year, but Pfaadt settled in and kept the Cardinals from adding on.
After that opening frame, he shut them down over the next five innings and needed just 87 pitches to get through six. He’s now 5-0 since being recalled from Reno, and he’s been exactly what this team needed while the season hangs in the balance.
Arizona’s offense gave him plenty of support, and Tyler Locklear was right in the middle of it. He wasn’t even in the original lineup, but Ketel Marte’s lower back tightness opened the door, and Locklear made the most of the opportunity.
He finished 3-for-5 with his first home run of the season and came up a triple shy of the cycle. For a player who has bounced between the minors and majors in recent seasons and has dealt with injuries, it was a big day at the right time.
If he keeps producing at first base, that’s a major development for this club.
Gabriel Moreno stayed hot as well, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and continuing to look like the hottest hitter on planet earth. Ildemaro Vargas and Adrian Del Castillo also chipped in with three-hit games, and the Diamondbacks’ bats finally looked like they were clicking from top to bottom. Arizona scored three runs in the fourth and then broke things open with five more in the eighth, pushing the total to 10 and giving the team back-to-back games with double-digit run production.
Now the Diamondbacks head to Washington to face the Nationals this weekend. The Nationals are just two games behind Arizona for the third wild card spot, so the series carries real weight.
Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball Friday looking to bounce back from his lone rough outing of the season last time out. With the front office in the final stages of deciding whether to buy or sell, how the offense performs this weekend could go a long way toward shaping the rest of the year.
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Draft Strategy Just Raised The Stakes For Their Pitching Future
The Diamondbacks came out of the 2026 MLB draft with a clear type in mind, and it showed in the way they spread their early picks across players who fit the organizations preference for high baseball IQ, versatility, velocity and maturity. Director of amateur scouting Ian Rebhan pointed to that blend as the guiding force behind the first five selections, with catcher Ryder Helfrick, right-hander Blake Bryant and infielder Carson Kerce among the names that fit the mold and gave Arizona a little more shape to its next wave of talent.
The more interesting part for the long haul is how aggressively the club kept leaning toward the mound as the draft went on. Arizona used nine of its last 15 picks on pitchers, a sign the front office wanted to keep building depth in a system that can always use more arms. Some of those later selections were viewed internally as possible starters, which makes the class feel less like a one-note pitching grab and more like a deliberate bet on how much upside the organization can still uncover. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Fans Have A Real Mitch Bratt Debate To Watch
Mitch Bratts early run has given Diamondbacks fans something more interesting than a box score to track. The left-hander has already made three starts, but he still has not gotten through five innings in any of them, and his latest outing showed both the workload and the intrigue around him as he threw 84 pitches over 4.2 innings. For a club that has watched starting-pitcher usage evolve, Bratts quick rise at 23 only adds to the conversation about how Arizona is handling young arms and what it expects from them right now.
The bigger debate goes beyond one pitcher and into the way decisions are assigned to starters in the modern game. With more outings ending before the traditional threshold, the old five-inning line can feel out of step with how clubs actually deploy pitchers, and this is where Bratt becomes part of a larger argument. Arizonas recent history with short starts only sharpens the issue, making his next turn a useful test case for a rule that some around the game think should be adjusted. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Still Have One Huge Burnes Question As Lovullo Shakes Up Order
Eduardo Rodriguez and Paul Sewald gave the Diamondbacks a needed reset on the mound, each bouncing back after rough previous outings to help secure a win. At the same time, Torey Lovullo kept tinkering with the top of the order, sliding Corbin Carroll back into the leadoff spot and pushing Ketel Marte down to cleanup as Arizona keeps searching for a combination that fits.
The bigger issue, though, still sits beyond the current rotation and lineup cards. Corbin Burnes is working toward an early-September return from surgery, and the Diamondbacks are still waiting to see how much he can give them when he gets back, a question that could shape the stretch run as much as any batting-order adjustment. [Read more 🡒]