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Brandon Pfaadt of the Diamondbacks was on the road to success early in the loss to the Brewers

PHOENIX – Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt allowed eight earned runs for the first time in his MLB career in a 15-8 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

Pfaadt left after recording just five outs, followed by a grand slam by Willy Adames. The D-backs fell behind 13-0 after a five-run lead by reliever Dylan Floro, who has allowed more runs than innings pitched since joining the team at the trade deadline.

The batters woke up to eight unanswered runs to avoid an even more embarrassing finale and to give the announced crowd of 44,886 a kick – although that was certainly not the number in the eighth inning.

“Tonight we were dealing with a complete lack of shot execution, missed shots in the middle of the zone, a lack of control on our secondary stuff, just too many missed shots for a team that fights you the whole time and doesn't give up,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

Seven of the eight runs Milwaukee scored against Pfaadt came with two outs in the second inning, a recovery that Sal Frelick started with a single into the 6th hole. Frelick robbed Corbin Carroll of a home run in the first inning, so his two plays changed the outcome of the game. The Brewers (86-62) hit four consecutive singles followed by two walks to support Adames, who hit two home runs on Saturday.

Pfaadt didn't allow much hard contact, but he didn't miss any batters either. He didn't strike out a batter, although he did manage to get two strikes in six times.

“That was definitely not what we wanted,” Pfaadt said. “I think we know how important these games are. To let the team down like that is unacceptable in my opinion and we have to do better.”

This has been a very difficult time for the 25-year-old, who has been the rock of a struggling rotation for much of the season – he is the only member of the starting lineup who has never been on the injured list.

He has allowed 25 earned runs on 40 hits in his last 22 innings in five starts, including Saturday. Overall, he has a 7.58 ERA in his last nine appearances.

“I think the slider hasn't felt as good, and we're still working on that, but that's obviously our best pitch,” Pfaadt said. “And when we don't have it, when we don't have it down, we have to rely on other pitches. And so I think that between now and next week, before we face them again, we're going to have to make sure we get a handle on it again and be aggressive with it.”

Pfaadt's next appearance will be in Milwaukee next week, as Arizona has a four-game series at American Family Field beginning Friday.

Is Brandon Pfaadt exhausted?

The Diamondbacks (82-66) gave Pfaadt some extra rest on Saturday by bringing him and Eduardo Rodriguez in on their Thursday off weekend. Pfaadt has pitched 166.2 innings this year. Last season, he threw 178.2 innings between Triple-A, Diamondbacks regular-season games and postseason appearances.

Pfaadt dismissed the idea that he might be exhausted at this point.

“No, physically I feel great and I’m ready to finish strong and recover,” Pfaadt said.

“Do I think it's partly due to exhaustion? That could be, but he says he feels good,” Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks score 8 unanswered runs

Yilber Diaz made his debut as a relief pitcher for the Diamondbacks, managing three scoreless innings before giving up a two-run shot to William Contreras in the ninth inning. Despite this, Diaz managed four innings as the offense began to take hold.

The Diamondbacks took out starters like Ketel Marte, Carroll, Christian Walker and Eugenio Suarez early, but the club struggled.

Josh Bell came off the bench and delivered a two-run single in the sixth inning, Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and Arizona added four runs in the eighth inning.

“If we had fallen behind a little bit, we would have been right back in the game,” Lovullo said. “So I'm very happy with a couple of things that happened at the end. … We closed that gap with a solid approach, but we have to be better on the mound.”

Geraldo Perdomo scored two runs with a double, although the D-backs left runners on second and third base. Brewers third baseman Andruw Monasterio helped with two errant balls, although shortstop Joey Ortiz saved two runs with a diving stop.

The Diamondbacks got multiple hits from Bell, Grichuk, Perdomo, Adrian Del Castillo and Pavin Smith and finished the season with a total of 14 hits. Arizona started the season 17-0 and had 14 hits.

No outfield pitching?

By cutting into Milwaukee's lead, Arizona effectively denied itself the opportunity to use a fielder on the mound. MLB rule states that a team must be down by eight or more runs or lead by ten or more, so Diaz had to come back for a fourth inning as a reliever.

“I wanted to hit him after three (innings) max, and to be honest, we wanted to use a fielder, but it had to be eight runs or more,” Lovullo said. “And we got in that zone. So I was kind of trapped.”

The Diamondbacks' next game

The D-backs can avoid the sweep on Sunday at 1:10 p.m.

Zac Gallen (3.55 ERA) starts against left-hander DL Hall (4.01 ERA) from Milwaukee.

The Diamondbacks remain the second NL wild card team on Sunday, but are only one game ahead of the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves.

Sunday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports app.

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