Baseball, man, it just crushes you sometimes. The Diamondbacks basically dominated for eight out of nine innings tonight against the Texas Rangers, but that one explosive fifth inning absolutely torpedoed the whole game. It was a brutal reminder of Brandon Pfaadt’s early season struggles, where we all got used to seeing him pitch pretty well for a few frames, then BAM, the dreaded “One Big Inning” would just blow up.
Pfaadt vs. Rocker: A Favorable Matchup Gone Sideways
Honestly, this game looked like ours on paper. Pfaadt was facing off against Kumar Rocker, a former first-round pick who’s known for being wild, throwing too many pitches, and leaving games early. You’d think that’d be an easy win for us, right? But tonight, Rocker was weirdly efficient in the early going. Both starters traded quick, scoreless innings through the first two. Rocker had tossed 24 pitches; Pfaadt, despite giving up two hits, had only thrown 23. Pfaadt kept it rolling in the top of the third, setting down the Rangers in order with just 12 more pitches. Then, Tim Tawa kicked off the bottom of the third with a huge triple off the center field wall! Pavin Smith, a surprise call-up from Reno, then grounded a single past Corey Seager to drive in Timmy. We drew first blood, 1-0 D-backs, and we were feeling good. Pfaadt followed up with another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, but then came the fifth.
The One Big Inning Returns, And It Was Brutal
You know that feeling when you see a giant boulder rolling towards you in a movie? That was the fifth inning for Brandon Pfaadt. It kicked off with Wyatt Langford hitting a leadoff dinger to tie the game. Then it was a single, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt, another single that scored a run, and a hit by pitch. But the real gut punch? A fielder’s choice that looked like a perfect inning-ending double play. Seriously, it looked like it! But the review said Pfaadt’s foot wasn’t quite on the bag when he covered first, so the “safe” call stood. That overturned play completely shattered Pfaadt’s focus. The next three batters just hammered him: single, double, single. He finally struck out Langford, the tenth batter of the inning, but the damage was done. We basically gave them the game right there.
It’s just so frustrating to see that “One Big Inning” pop up again, especially when we were otherwise playing so well. We were just one call and one tough inning away from a totally different outcome. Gotta shake this off, but man, that one stings.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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