Pirates slip back to .500 after 2nd straight loss to Diamondbacks

With the trade deadline coming up Tuesday and big decisions looming for the front office, the Pittsburgh Pirates suffered their second damaging loss in two nights Saturday, 9-5, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

What made the defeat worse than only one digit in the loss column was its effect on the Pirates’ standing in the National League wild-card race. Slipping back to .500, the Pirates (52-52) left Chase Field three games behind the New York Mets in the quest for the third and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks (55-50) moved 2 1/2 games in front of the Pirates.

The loss ended the Pirates’ streak of four consecutive series victories. They are 2-4 since the end of their six-game winning streak.

The Pirates, who had won 10 in a row while scoring at least four runs, started the game without two of their most productive hitters — Bryan Reynolds (bereavement leave) and Rowdy Tellez (back spasms suffered Friday night). Then, in the sixth inning, Nick Gonzales left when he injured his left groin running down the first base line on a groundout.

The Pirates recovered from an early 4-1 deficit, but for a change the pitching staff shouldered most of the blame.

”We had good swings. We executed,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “With runners in scoring position, we put the ball in play. We just couldn’t hold them at bay.”

Oneil Cruz’s solo home run in the first inning — when he was the game’s second batter — left his bat at 115.5 mph and landed 472 feet from home plate. According to SportsNet Pittsburgh, it was the longest of Cruz’s career and fifth-longest recorded homer by a Pirates player this century.

Cruz’s homer was the first — and only the second run — allowed by Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt since June 30. Pfaadt didn’t let the impressive blast affect him, however. He retired the next 11 batters through the end of the fourth inning.

Oneil Cruz just sent this ball 472 feet ???? pic.twitter.com/OtKvWpf6dF

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 28, 2024

The Diamondbacks answered in the bottom of the first on Christian Walker’s RBI single. Pirates starter Marco Gonzales pitched out of a bases-loaded jam, but he needed 28 pitches to survive.

He had no such good fortune in the second when the Diamondbacks grabbed a 4-1 lead on two long home runs. Corbin Carroll’s shot went 402 feet and Kartel Marte followed with a two-run, 415-foot homer.

The start was only the third for Gonzales since he was placed on the injured list April 14 with a left (pitching) forearm muscle strain. Shelton pulled Gonzales after 2 1/3 innings and 67 pitches. He allowed four runs, seven hits and three walks.

“I just didn’t like the way the ball was coming out,” Gonzales said. “I really didn’t give myself a chance. Three walks, unnecessary pitches, high pitch count, not getting ahead of anybody, really just a poor effort on my part, not giving the team a chance to win. I didn’t have it. I just have to be real with myself.

“I’m pretty good at flushing it, putting my head down and going to work. That’s all I know.”

The Pirates tied the score at 4-4 in the fifth inning. Josh Palacios led off with a single to left field and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ 71.7 mph dribbler between first and second bases put two runners on base. Joey Bart’s double, Ji Hwan Bae’s sacrifice fly and Michael A. Taylor’s infield single produced three runs.

But the rally ended when Taylor was tagged out after making a step toward second base on the errant throw from second baseman Marte and Andrew McCutchen struck out. McCutchen was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts while his average dipped to .224.

With the score tied, Shelton made another pitching change, inserting Quinn Priester for Dennis Santana, who worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Marco Gonzales.

Santana recorded all five outs with strikeouts, but Priester mostly struggled in a four-inning outing, giving up five runs, five hits and one walk and hitting two batters.

The Diamondbacks broke the 4-4 tie against Priester in the fifth when he surrendered a single and walk and hit a batter, followed by consecutive sacrifice fly RBIs by Geraldo Perdomo and Marte.

In the sixth, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled, Walker was hit by a pitch and pinch hitter Joc Pederson followed with a triple. Pederson scored on Jake McCarthy’s fourth of five singles.

Shelton said he wanted length from his relievers, and Priester is the designated long man at the moment.

“He’s our length guy. He’s a guy who’s been a starter,” Shelton said. “When you’re in that role, you have to be able to cover multiple innings.”

Priester hadn’t pitched since July 19, but he refused to use inactivity as an excuse.

“I expect a lot more out of myself. I expect to perform better for the guys next to me,” Priester said. “So, that’s unacceptable.

“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if I pitched yesterday or I pitched a month ago. We have to go out and win games right now and I didn’t do a good enough job of that.”