PHOENIX — Teams don’t win many games when they allow seven runs in an inning.
Not rocket science, exactly, but if the Pirates needed a reminder, they got it in a 9-3 loss Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It started with right-hander Chase De Jong on the mound, trying to get through his second inning of work and cling to a 3-2 lead. Spoiler alert: He didn’t.
De Jong allowed a pair of singles to start the frame, then Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo tried to bunt. He failed to do so twice and worked a 1-2 count before De Jong hit Perdomo when he squared to bunt once again. That loaded the bases. De Jong got a sharp groundout right afterward, but the run scored from third to tie the game.
Manager Derek Shelton had seen enough and opted to put right-hander Yerry De Los Santos in the game. That somehow went worse. De Los Santos gave up a hotshot double down the left-field line to score two more. He then issued an intentional walk to Josh Rojas and a four-pitch walk to Christian Walker to load the bases again. Daulton Varsho unloaded them in emphatic fashion, crushing a ball to deep center that bounced off the top of the high wall in Chase Field. It went down as a 441-foot double and scored three more runs.
De Los Santos walked another batter before being replaced by Duane Underwood Jr., without recording a single out. It raised his seasonlong ERA from 3.51 to 4.91 in one fell swoop.
Varsho eventually scored after stealing third and reaching home on a fielder’s choice groundout to polish off the seven-run frame.
What will make the inning all the more frustrating for the Pirates is the game was in their control beforehand.
The Pirates small-balled their way to all three of their runs, all coming in the fourth inning. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a single, and shortstop Oneil Cruz walked right behind him. A double steal put them in scoring position, and two batters later, second baseman Tucupita Marcano grounded to first. The throw went home, but Hayes beat the play and scored.
Then, the Diamondbacks completely botched a rundown. Outfielder Greg Allen blooped a single into center, scoring Cruz and allowing Marcano to go to third. But Allen was caught between first and second. He ran around enough to allow Marcano to swipe home, the second time in two games he’s done so in that exact situation. What’s more, the Diamondbacks didn’t commit enough players to the rundown, and Allen got back to first safely.
Against Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly, sporting a 2.86 ERA entering the game, that’s pretty good production, even if it wasn’t noisy extra-base hits.
Right-hander JT Brubaker pitched solidly enough in his own right for the Pirates. He didn’t allow a hit in the first three innings. Trouble struck in the fourth, as Brubaker gave up a solo shot from Emmanuel Rivera and then a walk and an RBI single, but he still had the lead when he exited after five.
The Pirates even had the lead after six, when De Jong pitched a 1-2-3 frame.
But winnable games after six innings aren’t always games won. That’s certainly rarely the case when you give up a touchdown — and the extra point — in one inning.
