Diamondbacks squander key chance after rain delay in loss to Pirates

The Arizona Diamondbacks brought the go-ahead run to the plate against Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar on Saturday, but the bats took too long to wake up in a 4-2 loss.

Alek Thomas flew out to center field with Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte aboard to end the game. Arizona’s hitters have been able to create comeback chances with their backs against the wall consistently of late, although Saturday was a pretty quiet day until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

Arizona entered the matchup having scored at least nine runs in three of the previous four games and at least four runs in 10 straight contests.

The defeat snapped a four-game winning streak and evened the three-game series with Pirates rookie superstar Paul Skenes set to pitch on Sunday. Ryne Nelson will go for Arizona.

The ballgame changed after a rain delay stopped play for more than an hour. Both starters were pulled, beginning the bullpen chess match in the fourth inning. Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller was particularly strong early with four shutout innings, one hit and four strikeouts.

The D-backs created a golden chance when reliever Dennis Santana entered for Keller when play resumed in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs. Arizona only mustered one run to tie the game, coming on a Joc Pederson nine-pitch walk against left-hander Jalen Beeks. Pederson barely missed a potential bases-clearing knock with a deep fly ball that hit off the wall in foul ground.

A heck of an at-bat from Joc results in a game-tying walk. 👏 pic.twitter.com/8ZQCj8bWvT

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 4, 2024

The lost opportunity to tack on quickly came back to bite, as Pirates All-Star Bryan Reynolds hit a go-ahead two-run shot off Slade Cecconi in the sixth inning.

The D-backs pushed Cecconi to 55 pitches in relief due to a busy Friday for the bullpen and short start by Jordan Montgomery due to weather.

Andrew McCutchen battled for an 11-pitch at-bat that resulted in a single to lead off the sixth — after a close call went Pittsburgh’s way for ball three. McCutchen came off the field with left quad tightness and is day-to-day, the Pirates said.

Reynolds worked another 3-2 count and homered on a fastball over the middle of the plate. Joey Bart singled in the fourth run, also on a 3-2 count. Bart homered in the second inning off Montgomery.

All four D-backs hits until the ninth came from 7-9 hitters Eugenio Suarez, Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo. Perdomo had the lone multi-hit game on Saturday.

The top six started the game 0-for-21 with seven strikeouts and only the Pederson walk.

Perdomo doubled with two outs in the ninth inning and scored on a Marte single following a Carroll walk. The D-backs previously removed Pederson for pinch hitter Randal Grichuk against a lefty and turned to Thomas off the bench.

Thomas has had a knack for coming through in big moments with his grand slam in San Diego and rally-starting triple against the Nationals this past week, but he did not get all of a curveball over the plate.

First pitch on Sunday is at 10:35 a.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

Follow @alexjweiner