D-backs look to recapture early-season magic in S.F.

The Arizona Diamondbacks led the National League West by three games just a month ago, but their fortunes have taken a beating recently.

The Arizona Diamondbacks led the National League West by three games just a month ago, but their fortunes have taken a beating recently.

The Diamondbacks hope for a reset when they send rookie Brandon Pfaadt to the mound to face the host San Francisco Giants in the finale of a four-game series on Thursday.

Pfaadt (0-4, 8.20 ERA), a fifth-round pick by Arizona in 2020, aims for his first big-league victory as he starts for the ninth time this season.

The 24-year-old right-hander went five innings on May 14 against the Giants in his third start, allowing only one run and one hit -- a home run by Michael Conforto. He threw 86 pitches, struck out five and walked three.

The Giants are planning to go with a bullpen day on Thursday, with left-hander Scott Alexander (6-1, 3.13 ERA) serving as the opener. Alexander is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 22 career appearances (three starts) vs. the Diamondbacks, 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three outings, all in relief, this year.

After a series-opening win, Arizona has dropped the past two games, scoring a total of five runs in the two contests to slide a game outside of an NL wild-card position.

The team's quick start and rapid fade have understandably raised questions.

"We're working on it, we're close," Arizona slugger Christian Walker said on the local television broadcast after the Wednesday loss. "We had an electric 3 1/2 months ... I think the league, they gave their counterpunch. So it's our job now to figure out what's been going on and make our adjustment."

Walker had a pinch-hit single and teammate Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two hits on Wednesday night, but the Diamondbacks could manage only two other hits off the combination of Logan Webb, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval.

"We've gotta be able to score runs against anybody at any time, like we have (been)," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. "It's not an outlandish ask because this is a good group, and to get to where we're going, we've gotta find a way to beat good pitching."

Webb delivered seven strong innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

The Giants enter Thursday sitting in the first NL wild-card spot, and they are just 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

San Francisco designated hitter Wilmer Flores continued his hot hitting on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .305. A career .264 hitter, Flores is batting .420 (34-for-81) over his past 23 games.

The Giants' existing roster has proved worthy of a playoff pursuit, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi decided to avoid any big deals at the trade deadline.

"It wasn't a super active deadline," Zaidi said. "I think a lot of teams dealt with the same supply-and-demand issue that we did and ultimately didn't line up on anything."

Arizona's big move at the trade deadline was acquiring Seattle Mariners closer Paul Sewald. Though he has yet to be used by the Diamondbacks, Sewald is excited for the opportunity.

"Once we get moved to Phoenix, everything will be very nice," Sewald said. "(The trade speculation) has been eating me a lot. ... But we're so lucky that we're going to a place that we already love."

With a 4-2 victory on Wednesday, the Giants tied the season series against the Diamondbacks at five wins apiece.

--Field Level Media