Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt has done nothing but win since rejoining the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rotation last month.

With five wins in five starts since late June, Pfaadt will return to the mound Tuesday night as the Diamondbacks vie to snap a three-game skid in a matchup against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

Pfaadt (5-1, 4.43 ERA) will oppose Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.47) as the Diamondbacks enter the game tied with Pittsburgh for the National League’s final wild-card spot.

On Monday, Arizona squandered a 2-0 lead and a strong start from Merrill Kelly, who gave up no earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in the team’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings. The Diamondbacks’ three consecutive defeats followed a stretch of 10 wins in 12 games.

Pfaadt has a 2.33 ERA in 27 innings in his past five starts. He has only 14 strikeouts but has induced 48 ground-ball outs and has walked only three batters during that span.

Pfaadt is 1-0 with a 6.06 ERA in three career starts vs. Pittsburgh.

In his most recent outing, Pfaadt overcame a rough start on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals last Thursday when he gave up two runs in the first inning before recording an out. He didn’t allow another run and exited after six innings, allowing seven hits and two walks, with only one strikeout, in a 10-6 victory.

Pfaadt, who has relied on his success pitching to contact, beat the Cardinals five days earlier at home, 5-3.

“It’s always tough when you face a team back-to-back times, and we knew that going in,” Pfaadt said. “I think to get out of that [first inning] was huge.”

Meanwhile, the Pirates’ bullpen, which has struggled this season, showed the resolve it will need if Pittsburgh is to end an 10-year postseason drought. Four relievers combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Monday, capped by Mason Montgomery’s scoreless 10th inning. Montgomery worked his way out of a jam that had runners on second and third base with one out.

“We understand what we can do here in the clubhouse,” Brandon Lowe told Sportsnet Pittsburgh after the game. “We want everybody here to be excited about it as well. We’re ready to win a lot of ballgames.”

Lowe had three hits, including the game-winning single in the 10th inning, on Monday.

Chandler is coming off his best outing of the season last Wednesday, when he threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees. He struck out five, walked none and gave up only two hits, but the Pirates lost 2-0.

Chandler’s outing was a welcome sight, though, for the Pirates, who have seen their rookie right-hander struggle with walks this season.

Chandler walked the first batter he faced against the Yankees but recovered quickly.

“I figured out what I wanted to do,” he said. “Everything kind of fell into place after that. It was a good day.”

Chandler struggled in his only career start against Arizona on May 5. He walked six batters that day, struck out four and allowed two runs over five innings in a game the Diamondbacks won 9-0.

–Field Level Media

Cade Cavalli will look to continue his torrid stretch and help the Washington Nationals bounce back against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Toronto took the opening game of the three-game series 3-2 on Monday behind some stellar bullpen work after Max Scherzer kicked things off in his return to Nationals Park.

The Blue Jays’ Shane Bieber (2-1, 4.70 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Cavalli (7-4, 3.58) in the middle game of the series.

Bieber, 31, will make his seventh start of the season. Over his past two efforts, he has allowed only one earned run in 13 innings. On Thursday, he gave up a run on three hits over seven innings in a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Rays in one of his best outings of the season.

“That was outstanding,” manager John Schneider said of Bieber’s effort. “Limiting hard contact against a really good offensive team, especially the top of the order. And we played really good defense behind him.”

Bieber has faced the Nationals once in his career, pitching six innings and allowing three runs on nine hits in a no-decision while a member of the Cleveland Guardians in 2023.

Cavalli is 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA, 45 strikeouts and six walks over his past six starts. Last time out, he struck out eight and pitched six scoreless innings in an 8-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. It was Cavalli’s third straight six-inning start, and five of the past six outings have been quality starts.

“His stuff’s so good,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said afterward. “He’s able to, it seems like, take it to a next level or another level when guys do get into scoring position, and there’s running threatening. He made some big pitches for us.”

Cavalli has never faced the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays helped Scherzer celebrate his 42nd birthday Monday night, though he did not pick up the individual win after allowing a run on four hits in 2 2/3 innings. He threw 75 pitches against the Nationals, whom he played for from 2015-21.

Six relievers combined to allow one run as closer Louis Varland finished — though he made it interesting by giving up a two-out single and a walk before striking out Luis Garcia Jr. to end the game.

Luis Urias homered, Myles Straw had an RBI single and a double, and Ernie Clement doubled in a run for Toronto, which had lost seven of 10 games since the All-Star break heading into Monday’s game.

“It’s frustrating as heck that we’re in this position, but we’re professionals,” Scherzer said of Toronto’s last-place standing in the American League East. “We have a job to do. … You’ve got to go out there and do everything you can to win, every single day. That’s the mentality we have in the clubhouse, and we kind of let the other stuff just be noise.”

Andres Chaparro hit a pinch-hit homer, and Garcia and Nasim Nunez had two hits each for the Nationals, who had won two straight entering the game.

Washington sits one game out of the third and final wild-card spot in the National League.

“It just felt like a night when we had opportunities and couldn’t capitalize,” Butera said after Washington went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. “It’s frustrating doing that when the pitching’s as good as it was for us tonight.”

Chaparro is batting .323 (10-for-31) with five homers, eight runs and 14 RBIs across his past 14 games.

CJ Abrams — named NL Player of the Week after going 15-for-26 (.577) with six home runs, 12 RBIs, and eight runs scored in six games — went 0-for2 with two walks.

–Field Level Media

Taxed with a fatigued bullpen, the visiting Atlanta Braves would love nothing more than a long outing from their starting pitcher on Tuesday night, when they play the second contest of a three-game set against the New York Mets.

Luckily for the Braves, they’ve got the right guy on the mound in left-hander Chris Sale.

After Atlanta’s relievers were put to the test in a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Braves sent Connor Thomas to the mound for just the fourth game of his major league career in a 3-3 game on Monday. Thomas allowed 11 runs on 10 hits across just 2 2/3 innings in a 14-3 loss.

Anchoring a staff in need of reinforcements, Sale (11-6, 2.19 ERA) will search for his third straight win and fourth in his last five outings.

Sale, 37, allowed three runs on five hits across six innings on Thursday, tying a season high with 11 strikeouts and walking just one in a 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.

After injuries derailed the end of his tenure with the Boston Red Sox, Sale was shipped to the Braves in December 2023 for shortstop Vaughn Grissom — who was traded again two years later. Since Sale arrived in Atlanta, he’s revitalized his career and is in the conversation for his second National League Cy Young Award in the last three years.

“I’ve talked about him glowingly all year, and I’ll continue to do so,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said of Sale. “He’s the real deal. … It defies logic, really. After all the time he missed in Boston and then coming here and doing what he’s done to rejuvenate an already great career, at this point in his career, is amazing.”

Sale is 36-14 with a 2.39 ERA with Atlanta. He is in his third year with the team.

Sale is 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA in six career starts against the Mets. He faced them on July 4, tossing five innings of three-run, seven-hit ball, striking out three and walking two in a 14-3 victory.

Monday served as a highlight for the Mets in an otherwise lackluster season. New York has won back-to-back games for the first time since before the All-Star break after its second-highest scoring output of the year.

Francisco Lindor hit two home runs and drove in six runs for the Mets, while Tyrone Taylor had three hits and three RBIs.

“Tyrone Taylor continues to do some impressive stuff,” New York interim manager Andy Green said. “Obviously, Lindor with the two home runs and triple as well. Up and down the lineup, we had really good at-bats (on Monday).”

The Mets will counter Sale with right-hander Christian Scott (3-2, 3.13 ERA), who’s coming off his shortest outing since his season debut on April 23. Scott lasted just 3 2/3 innings, yielding three runs on four hits while striking out six and walking three in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.

Scott, 27, faced the Braves on July 3, allowing three runs on two hits in four innings, striking out seven and walking four in a 5-3 loss. He is 0-2 with a 5.40 in two career starts against Atlanta.

–Field Level Media