Pfaadt ties Arizona record with 7 straight strikeouts in Diamondbacks' 5-1 victory over Brewers

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Pfaadt tied an Arizona franchise record by striking out seven straight batters to highlight his dominating performance as the Diamondbacks boosted their playoff hopes by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks remain tied for second place in the NL wild-card standings with the New York Mets, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6 on Thursday. They're both two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves.

Milwaukee was playing one night after clinching its third NL Central title in four years.

Pfaadt (10-9) collected a career-high 12 strikeouts while allowing just one run and two hits in seven innings. It was a remarkable turnaround for Pfaadt, who had given up eight runs over 1 2/3 innings in a 15-8 loss to the Brewers just five nights earlier.

Pavin Smith hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning for the Diamondbacks.

Milwaukee’s lone run came on Garrett Mitchell’s two-out homer in the seventh. Pfaadt allowed only one other baserunner, when he gave up Brice Turang's leadoff single in the fourth.

Turang moved up to second when Jackson Chourio grounded out, then Pfaadt struck out Milwaukee's next seven hitters.

The only other Diamondbacks to strike out seven straight batters within a single game are Hall of Famer Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Johnson accomplished that feat three times and Schilling did it once during the Diamondbacks’ 2001 World Series championship season.

A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez worked the final two innings to complete the two-hitter.

The Diamondbacks broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning by scoring three runs off only one hit.

After Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo walked to start the inning, Corbin Carroll hit a ball that got past third baseman Andruw Monasterio and went into left field. Moreno scored, Perdomo advanced to second and Carroll reached first on the play, which was ruled as a fielder’s choice with an error on Monasterio.

Ketel Marte followed by ripping a 3-0 pitch off the top of the right-field wall for an RBI single that knocked Brewers starter Tobias Myers out of the game. Perdomo scored on Christian Walker's sacrifice fly that right fielder Sal Frelick caught in front of the wall.

Myers (8-6) allowed three runs — one earned — and four hits in four innings. He struck out five and walked three.

With their division title wrapped up, the Brewers rested shortstop Willy Adames for the first time this season. Adames had started each of Milwaukee’s first 152 games.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Diamondbacks manager Torey Luvullo said there's a possibility that OF Lourdes Gurriel could be activated from the injured list in time to play in this series. Gurriel has been dealing with a calf issue and last played for the Diamondbacks on Sept. 1.

UP NEXT

RHP Zac Gallen (12-6, 3.61 ERA) pitches for the Diamondbacks and RHP Colin Rea (12-5, 4.14) starts for the Brewers on Friday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte hits an RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suárez hits a single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy watches from the dugout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby throws during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.

The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

From the military's description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.

However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since the Truman's arrival, the U.S. has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the rebels, like what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower saw earlier this year. That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.

On Saturday night and early Sunday, U.S. warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility,” without elaborating.

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes appeared particularly targeted at a mountainside known to be home to military installations. The Houthis later acknowledged the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.

Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say. The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate U.S.- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kaitlin Young/U.S. Navy via AP)

FILE - Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)