Collmenter not satisfied with quality start

PHOENIX -- It will go down in the books as a quality start -- six-plus innings pitched and three runs allowed -- but D-backs right-hander Josh Collmenter realized that it wasn't really a good outing for him.

Collmenter allowed three runs in the first two innings of the game, which was more than Gerrit Cole and a pair of Pirates relievers needed in a 4-1 win over the D-backs on Friday night.

"It's just disappointing to put the team behind the eight ball out of the gate, especially the way their guy was throwing," Collmenter said. "He gets three early runs and essentially puts it on cruise control. It's never good to do that, especially at home."

Collmenter (1-3) was coming off a four-hit shutout of the Giants in which he was able to keep the ball down. That was not the case early on against the Pirates.

"I was all over the place the first couple of innings," Collmenter said. "Just throwing not pitching."

After allowing a run in the first, Collmenter was close to emerging from the second inning unscathed.

He retired the first two batters before allowing back-to-back singles to Jordy Mercer and Cole, then Josh Harrison doubled to right-center to score a pair and put Pittsburgh up 3-0.

"I was a couple of pitches away from getting out of it," Collmenter said. "I made a bad pitch to Harrison and that might have been the difference in the ballgame."

Video: PIT@ARI: Harrison smokes two-run double to the gap

From that point on, Collmenter's goal was just to pitch as deep into the game as possible.

And he did just that, retiring 12 straight before a leadoff double in the seventh ended his evening.

"He throws with a good downhill angle," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He doesn't get hit hard. His stuff got better as he went on. He kinda punched back after we got three quick."

The D-backs' offense could not put together a rally against Cole, stranding seven runners against him and going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on the night.

"He did a great job tonight," D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said of Cole. "He uses his fastball really well. But then he mixed it up with his other three pitches. Probably the main thing is he established his fastball on both sides of the plate and was throwing a lot of strikes.

"If we were patient, you saw him throw a lot of first-pitch strikes. Guys were getting behind in the count. With as hard as he throws and as good of offspeed as he has, it's tough to recover from that. When we tried to swing early he got some quick outs, too. You've got to give him a lot of credit. He threw really well tonight."