PHOENIX — Brandon Pfaadt nearly pitched a quality start, and rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear hit his first home run with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Monday’s 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Rookie southpaw Kyle Backhus recorded a six-out save to cap an all-around solid performance from Arizona.
The Diamondbacks have won three straight games, scoring 19 runs on 31 hits during the winning streak.
Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks pitching performs well vs. Padres
Pfaadt walked the first two batters of the game but retired the next eight of nine hitters with a catcher’s interference being the exception.
Pfaadt pushed through 5.2 innings with two earned runs on five hits, and he struck out four batters. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four straight starts against San Diego, all four of which resulted in wins for Arizona.
His changeup was particularly effective on Monday, as he drew six whiffs and four foul balls on 12 swings.
Monday was a bounce-back outing for Pfaadt, who had been trending in the right direction before he allowed seven earned runs in Detroit last week.
After Pfaadt, Andrew Hoffmann made his Diamondbacks debut after coming over in the Randal Grichuk trade with the Kansas City Royals.
The 25-year-old entered the game with two runners on in the sixth inning and induced a first-pitch fly out from Padres trade deadline acquiree Ryan O’Hearn. Hoffmann followed with a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts, and the victims were Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.
Backhus followed with two scoreless innings.
Diamondbacks bats get going early
The Diamondbacks got rolling early with five runs in the opening four innings of the game despite leaving some runners on base.
Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll led off the first with singles against San Diego left-hander JP Sears. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled home the first run. Arizona loaded the bases in the second and only managed one run on a Carroll sacrifice fly.
Locklear then homered to lead off the third, a towering shot over the bullpen in left field to take a 3-1 lead.
Arizona tacked on with RBI hits from Carroll and Gurriel in the fourth inning.
Belted. pic.twitter.com/TrHWVZeyk9
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 5, 2025
The Diamondbacks recorded 12 hits on Monday, as eight of nine batters in the starting lineup recorded a knock (catcher James McCann being the outlier).
Alek Thomas capped another multi-hit effort with a solo home run in the eighth inning for insurance.
This Is Why He’s Hot pic.twitter.com/cdNLWmD56x
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 5, 2025
