Behind Mitch Bratt, D-backs chase series win vs. Rockies

Arizona Diamondbacks rookie left-hander Mitch Bratt made history in his last start.

His encore outing will come Tuesday night, when the Diamondbacks meet the Colorado Rockies in the second contest of a three-game series in Phoenix.

Bratt (1-1, 3.90 ERA) gave up one hit and struck out nine batters over seven scoreless innings of a 10-4 victory over San Diego Padres on Wednesday while throwing 92 pitches.

Since pitch totals were first tracked in 1988, Bratt is the first rookie left-hander to hit all those marks while throwing less than 100 pitches, according to OPTAStats.

Bratt will face off against Colorado right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (11-5, 4.51 ERA) on Tuesday.

The D-backs won the series opener 9-0 on Monday and are 19-9 since July 9, the best record in the National League.

Bratt joked that he could not feel his legs while leaving to a standing ovation Wednesday, when he baffled the Padres with his five-pitch mix. His fastball topped out at 93 mph.

"For whatever reason, what he was throwing up there wasn't matching our hitters' swings and our eyes," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "His fastball was getting on us. It was a lot harder than what the scoreboard said it was."

Bratt opposed right-hander Casey Mize two days after the Padres acquired Mize at the trade deadline. The D-backs were among the many teams that put out feelers on Mize and other starters, but they did not make a pitching move, and Bratt stepped up in his sixth major league outing.

"I feel like there's enough things I need to work on or worry about on the field compared to off-the-field stuff," Bratt said of Arizona's trade rumors.

"I was kind of turning my phone off (Monday). If something was going to happen, something was going to happen. I think we have a phenomenal group here, and we're going to ride with what we've got."

Bratt, a 23-year-old from Newmarket, Ontario, said he knew the seventh inning was his last.

"As I was walking off the mound, I heard the song that was playing, some Rush, a Canadian band, so I was pretty fired up for that, too," Bratt said.

Bratt entered the San Diego game with a 5.23 ERA but had been trending in the right direction after giving up one run and three hits in five innings of no-decision in the D-backs' 4-1 victory at Cleveland on July 31.

He pitched around three walks to San Diego and has issued 18 in 27 2/3 innings, his only hiccup. He was acquired from Texas in a four-player 2025 deadline swap that sent Merrill Kelly to the Rangers.

Bratt has never faced the Rockies or any of their hitters.

Sugano, meanwhile, had a seven-game winning streak broken in his last start, a 4-0 home loss to Tampa Bay on Wednesday. He is the eighth pitcher in Rockies history with seven straight wins.

"I saw more of the same that he's been showing us all year ... fastball command," manager Warren Schaeffer said after Sugano's seventh straight win, a 3-1 victory over Kansas City on July 31 in a game in which the righty gave up one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Sugano is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA against the D-backs in his career, facing them twice in six days in May. He gave up two runs in a 4-2 home win on May 16 and did not receive a decision in the Rockies' 3-2 win May 22, when he gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Ketel Marte is 3-for-6 against him with two doubles, and Corbin Carroll is 2-for-5.

--Field Level Media