Pfaadt pitches 7 scoreless innings in the Diamondbacks' 7-3 win over the Cardinals

PHOENIX (AP) — Brandon Pfaadt pitched seven scoreless innings, Geraldo Perdomo had two RBIs and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3 on Friday night.

Pfaadt (10-6) allowed four hits with six strikeouts and no walks in his second straight sterling start. Adrian Del Castillo had three hits, an RBI and scored twice against Andre Pallante (5-6) after being called up from Triple-A Reno.

St. Louis scored three runs off John Curtiss in the ninth, on Victor Scott II's two-run homer and Pedro Pagés' run-scoring single. The Cardinals have lost four of six.

Pfaadt tossed a career-high eight innings against San Diego in his last start before the All-Star break, allowing two runs on four hits.

The right-hander allowed two hits through the first six innings before the Cardinals got two on in the seventh. Pfaadt struck out Jordan Walker and got Pagés on a weak fly to center to end the inning.

Pallante allowed seven runs on eight hits in six innings against Washington in his last start before the All-Star break.

The right-hander kicked off the second half of the season with another shaky outing.

Herrera hit a run-scoring single off Pallante in the second inning and Perdomo followed with a two-run single. Del Castillo had a run-scoring single in the third, followed by Alek Thomas' RBI groundout.

Blaze Alexander chased Pallante with a run-scoring double that put Arizona up 6-0 in the fifth.

Pallante allowed six runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Thomas made an acrobatic catch against the wall in left-center to rob Walker of extra bases in the fifth inning.

The Cardinals went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

St. Louis RHP Sonny Gray (9-3, 3.50 ERA) faces Arizona RHP Rhyne Nelson (5-2, 3.68) in the middle game of the three-game series Saturday.

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

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo pauses in the dugout prior to a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, July 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo celebrates his two-run single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, July 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo watches the flight of his two-run single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, July 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo, left, runs past St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras (40) on his way to third base with a triple during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — On the first day of the 2026 legislative session, Nebraska lawmakers were asked Wednesday to consider a motion to expel a fellow senator accused of making a sexually-charged comment to a legislative staffer and touching her inappropriately during a session-end party last year.

If lawmakers vote next week to expel the 59-year-old Sen. Dan McKeon, a Republican in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature, it will be the first time the body has ever done so.

The unprecedented move follows a complaint from the staffer that McKeon said she should “get laid” on her vacation and patted her on her buttocks last May during a party at the Lincoln Country Club attended by state lawmakers, staffers and lobbyists.

More attention has focused on sexual harassment within state legislatures nationwide. At least 156 state lawmakers across 44 states have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct since 2017, when The Associated Press began tracking such incidents amid the #MeToo movement. Of those, 56 have resigned or been expelled from office. A nearly equal number have faced some other type of repercussion, such as losing committee or party leadership positions.

A report on the Nebraska complaint was compiled by an outside law firm at the request of the Legislature's Executive Board and released Wednesday. It found that McKeon has “a reputation for making jokes and that some of those jokes are unprofessional and/or inappropriate for the workplace.”

The report determined that McKeon's conduct did not rise to a level of sexual harassment or retaliation that is actionable under state or federal discrimination law, but that didn't mean it was acceptable. It said McKeon's conduct did violate the Nebraska Legislature's workplace harassment policy, and that lawmakers “may, in their discretion, censure, reprimand or expel the senator for his conduct and comments.”

After interviewing the woman, McKeon and others, the attorney who wrote the report found that the woman, McKeon and another staffer had been discussing vacation plans at the May 29 party when McKeon asked whether the woman was “going to Hawaii to get laid,” she said. McKeon characterized the remark as a joke in which he said he hoped she would get a Hawaiian lei while in Hawaii.

“Complainant was not vacationing in Hawaii so this comment was inconsistent with the discussion of vacation plans,” the report said.

The staffer also said McKeon patted her behind. McKeon initially denied touching the woman, the report said, but later said he may have touched her back or lower back “or even rear end,” but insisted it was not intended to be sexual.

The report also said that following the complaint, McKeon was instructed by Sen. Ben Hansen, chairman of the Executive Board, on June 2 not to attend social gatherings where staffers would be present. Despite this, McKeon attended another party that night also attended by staffers — including the woman who filed the complaint against him — according to the report.

Nearly a month later, urged by Hansen to “accept responsibility for what he was alleged to have done” McKeon sent the woman a note telling her she should find it within herself to forgive him “because that is what the Bible instructs people to do,” the report said.

Then, in August, McKeon texted another staffer who shares an office with the woman, saying she “seems to be difficult to work with,” the report found.

An investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol ultimately led to McKeon being charged with a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. McKeon has pleaded not guilty.

McKeon, who attended Wednesday's opening session, declined to comment on the report itself. But his remarks on the complaint against him and the possibility of being expelled were in line with the report's findings, falling back on religious references by saying that his name, Daniel, means “just” in Hebrew and remarking “we're all sinners” when asked about accusations that he's often made inappropriate jokes in the workplace.

He said he has no plans to step down, despite calls from leaders of his own party — including Republican Gov. Jim Pillen — to resign. But he seemed ready to accept that he might be forced out, saying he expects any vote in the full Legislature to “be pretty close.”

“It is what it is,” he said. “I'm not going to cry about it or anything.”

The Legislature's Executive Board will hold a hearing Monday on the resolution to expel McKeon. If it's voted out of committee, the full Legislature could debate it as soon as Tuesday and would need 33 votes to pass.

If McKeon is expelled, he would be the nation's 57th state lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct to have left office via expulsion or resignation since 2017.

State Sen. Daniel McKeon takes notes during the first day of Nebraska's 2026 legislative session, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

State sen. Daniel McKeon sits during the first day of Nebraska's 2026 legislative session, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)