The Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks continued their four-game series Tuesday night from Chase Field. Both teams received solid starts from their starters, but rough patches from the bullpen kept this one close until the end. When the dust finally settled, Arizona came away with a 6-4 victory and clinched at least a split of this series.
Tommy Henry worked seven innings for the Diamondbacks. He allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Michael Chavis was responsible for that lone run being scored, when he launched a 405 ft. solo home run to left center in the sixth inning. At this point, Arizona had already scored two runs against Pittsburgh starter Zach Thompson.
Thompson only worked 4.2 innings, but avoided any big innings. He gave up two runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. A Christian Walker RBI single to right center in the first inning started the scoring on the night. Jake McCarthy would give them a second run in the third inning when he collected an RBI on an infield single.
Eric Stout worked .2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing one hit before being lifted for Duane Underwood Jr. Underwood Jr. was tagged for four runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout. Those runs came in the seventh and gave the Diamondbacks a lead they wouldn’t let falter. The final 1.2 innings on the mound were split between Yohan Ramirez and Wil Crowe.
The Arizona bullpen got roughed up in the eighth when Chris Devenski took the mound. Ben Gamel got the first run off him with an RBI double to right center. Chavis then game through again when he smacked a 400 ft. two run home run to left center. This got the Pirates back to within two runs, but former Bucco Mark Melancon closed the door on them in the ninth for his 16th save of the season.
Pittsburgh was outhit in this one by 11-7 margin, poor plate discipline has really troubled this team during this second half stretch of the season. One of the funnier moments of the night was when Rodolfo Castro had his cell phone fall out of his back pocket while sliding into third. Hopefully he remembers to leave that in his locker from now on. Game three of this series is scheduled to take place on Wednesday night at 9:40pm.
Record vs. Diamondbacks: 2-3
Record vs. N.L. West: 13-13
Record on the Road: 20-37
Overall Record: 44-66
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
