PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks pinch hitter Adrian Del Castillo flared a walk-off single to beat the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings on Wednesday, 3-2.
Arizona’s fifth walk-off victory of the season clinched a series win over the Guardians, a team in the hunt for an American League Wild Card spot.
After relievers John Curtiss and Andrew Saalfrank successfully stranded the ghost runner in the top of the 10th, Alek Thomas dropped a well-executed bunt to move the winning run 90 feet away with one out.
Del Castillo came up to bat for James McCann against Cleveland right-hander David Festa. Del Castillo attacked the first pitch he saw and floated it to left field, breaking his bat in the process.
With the benefit of Cleveland’s infield playing in, the ball dropped in front of diving left fielder Steven Kwan.
Comeback complete. pic.twitter.com/0VF7ccGa41
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 20, 2025
“ Just tried to get a pitch up in the zone,” Del Castillo said. “A pretty good cutter, but I got enough barrel. Obviously broke my bat, too. Enough barrel to put it where landed.”
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. forced extra innings with a game-tying, solo blast to lead off the ninth inning against Guardians closer Cade Smith — Cleveland’s typical closer Emmanuel Clase is on leave while being investigated for gambling.
Gurriel hit the go-ahead, two-run single in Tuesday’s win, and he drove in the first D-backs run with an RBI single in the first inning on Wednesday. He is second in MLB with 21 RBIs in August.
The Diamondbacks (62-66) had gone through a turmoil-filled stretch with four straight losses, a series defeat in Colorado and scrutiny for star player Ketel Marte missing games. All of that added to the weight of winning the past two games to steal a series win against a quality opponent.
“This was such a massive win for us,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of emotional wear and tear … To win a series, to win the last two games, especially the way we did, it was an awesome moment to watch everybody celebrate and have a good moment.
“These are things that you can build off and create a little bit of momentum. My expectation and my standard is that we’re gonna go out and be as ready as we can on Friday.”
Most of Wednesday’s game was a pitcher’s duel between Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt and Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick, who made his major league debut.
Pfaadt delivered seven innings with two earned runs, none of which scored after the second inning. Messick tossed 6.2 frames with only one run allowed in a promising introduction to the league.
His defense and another costly decision from D-backs third base coach Shaun Larkin provided an assist, as Thomas was thrown out at home plate in the fifth inning.
Guardians center fielder Angel Martinez tumbled after fielding a single by McCann, but he managed to get the ball to cut-off man Gabriel Arias, who threw out Thomas with a perfect throw. Arizona has had 18 runners thrown out at the plate this year, which trails only Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.
Larkin was pulled from his third base coach duties after the game and will remain on the coaching staff working with the infielders.
A unique way of getting thrown out at home. D-backs fail to score in the inning, and they have made 18 outs at home this year (3rd most in MLB). pic.twitter.com/tddBxpWwno
— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) August 20, 2025
Pfaadt had trouble in the first inning with two hits and a hit batsman leading to a run, as he needed 24 pitches. From there, he stabilized quickly. He needed only 31 pitches to plow through innings 2-4, and he shut out Cleveland with two hits allowed from innings 3-7.
His changeup was a standout pitch with five whiffs and an average exit velocity of 69 mph.
“ I think outside the first inning, I think we were able to settle in nicely and lean on the changeup today,” Pfaadt said. “Kinda stuck with that and that played well.”
Pfaadt’s ERA over his last eight starts is 4.07, a much more reasonable mark than his season-long 4.95.
Up next for Diamondbacks
Thursday is an off day for the club, which returns to Chase Field on Friday to begin a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
The probable starting pitchers for Arizona in order are Ryne Nelson, Nabil Crismatt and Zac Gallen. For Cincinnati, Zack Littell, All-Star Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer will toe the rubber, respectively.
