The Pittsburgh Pirates went into Sunday afternoon’s game at PNC Park with a chance to win a series over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who came into the weekend with a 25-19 record. They instead came away with an ugly loss that dropped them a game back of first place in the National League Central.
The Diamondbacks got on the board first when Corbin Carroll hit a solo homer in the first inning off of Roansy Contreras.
The Pirates tied this game in the second with a lot of help from Arizona pitcher Merrill Kelly. He issued a two-out walk to Connor Joe. An errant pick-off throw allowed Joe to get to third base, then a wild pitch tied the game.
Contreras was not efficient in this game, leading him to a high pitch count by the third inning. He gave up a double to Jose Herrera, then put him on third base with a wild pitch. Carroll walked with two outs, putting runners on the corners. Another wild pitch allowed Herrera to score, making it 2-1. Contreras ended the inning with 65 pitches.
Arizona was next to get on the board in the fifth when a walk to Geraldo Perdomo was followed by a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single by Pavin Smith. Contreras got a double play to end the inning with a 3-1 deficit.
The Pirates came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Connor Joe reached on a one-out single, then Rodolfo Castro, who is celebrating his 24th birthday, moved him to third base with a single. That was followed one batter later by a Tucupita Marcano double that tied the score.
The Pirates were unable to get Marcano in from second base, then poor defense immediately sent in a run for the Diamondbacks.
Dauri Moreta took over for Contreras in the sixth, after he allowed three runs on three hits and three walks, with three strikeouts. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Moreta made back-to-back errors that allowed a run to score.
Rob Zastryzny replaced Moreta with one out in the sixth. He got out of the inning without any more damage. However, he was charged with a run in the seventh, when he gave up a single, followed by a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt. Robert Stephenson came on and served up a single to Ketel Marte, making it 5-3 Arizona.
Things started to get out of hand at that point. Carroll walked, then Christian Walker doubled in two runs to make it 7-3. Stephenson got out of the inning before it got any worse.
The Diamondbacks added a run in the ninth off of Yohan Ramirez, who walked Carroll with two outs. Carroll stole second, moved to third on an error by Jason Delay, then scored on a single by Walker.
The Pirates couldn’t score over the final four innings. They finished their day with three hits. Those three hits came consecutively in the fifth inning.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to move into sole possession of first place.
The Pirates fell to 24-22, including a 4-12 run in their last 16 games.
Pittsburgh now hosts the 29-17 Texas Rangers for three games, starting tomorrow night at 6:35 PM.
