PITTSBURGH -- Whew, this would've been a bad loss for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona blew a six-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings to send the game to extras. Eventually, James McCann was able to break through with an RBI single in the 12th inning to beat the Pirates, 8-7, on Tuesday night at PNC Park.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak, and broke a tie between the two teams for the third NL Wild Card spot.
Arizona led 6-0 with two outs in the eighth inning before reliever Ryan Thompson allowed four straight hits as three runs came across.
Brandyn Garcia was able to escape the eighth without further damage. Closer Paul Sewald came on for the ninth with a three-run lead that quickly disappeared when Jake Mangum led off with a double. Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds then hit back-to-back homers to tie the game.
"You're [winning] 6-0, you got six outs to go, and the Pirates are fighting for the same thing we are. They're a good baseball team like we are, so they're not just [going to] roll over and go away," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "So, you got to give them some credit. But overall, we let things get away from us. Made some mistakes on the mound."
When it was finally over, the feeling in the visitors’ clubhouse seemed to be one more of relief than joy -- a realization that losing this game would have been tough to rebound from.
After the game, the D-backs gathered briefly to honor rookie reliever Gerardo Carrillo on his first Major League win and outfielder Max Kepler on his 1,000th career hit. That's when McCann shared a few words.
"One thing I told the team was that this might be my favorite win of the year," McCann said. "Because for seven innings, the momentum was 100 percent in our favor. There was nothing going their way, and then all of a sudden, it did a 180, just complete momentum in their favor. So, it would have been very easy for us as a team to kind of fold and say, 'Hey, we'll try and get them tomorrow.' But that's not what we did."
Starter Brandon Pfaadt set the tone for the Diamondbacks early as he shut the Pirates out for seven innings, continuing to turn his season around.
After compiling a 5.94 ERA early in the season, Pfaadt was moved to the bullpen and then demoted to Triple-A Reno. However, he has been lights out since being recalled on June 30 -- in his six starts, Pfaadt is 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks seemed to benefit from every bounce early. Geraldo Perdomo's first-inning hit ricocheted off the wall in right-center field at a funky angle, allowing him to get to third base and later score on an RBI groundout by Gabriel Moreno.
There were other bloop hits and some Pirates errors that contributed to Arizona's early lead.
It all evaporated quickly, though.
Thompson's eighth inning went: groundout, walk, strikeout, double and three straight singles.
Suddenly, it was a 6-3 game when Lovullo turned to Sewald in the ninth.
Sewald was nails for the D-backs through April and May. He converted his first nine save chances before his first blown save. He then rattled off 14 straight saves. After his save in Cincinnati on June 14, his ERA sat at 3.08, but in 13 games since, he has allowed 13 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings.
"It's location, it's stuff, it's every time I go out, it's just a struggle," Sewald said. "I'm just gonna keep working, keep trying to get better. Just keep doing it. It's been really bad, but we'll get out there. I just haven't gotten away with a [bad] pitch in a single month. Not a base hit, but just it ends up in the seats every time. So, I don't know. Trying my best, and it's not been very good. Just struggling."
Lovullo was asked after the game if Sewald would remain in the closer’s role.
"I haven't thought anything about tomorrow," Lovullo said. "I have to get through right now. But if there is something that'll happen, I'll make sure that I talk to the right people first."