PHOENIX -- The Pirates' approach to taking down a Cy Young candidate and one of the National League's most dominant pitchers over the last two seasons was the inverse of the conservative looks given during the mid-week series at Los Angeles.
In the opener of the final series prior to the All-Star break, going after NL wins leader Zac Gallen backfired. He coasted through seven innings while not allowing a walk and showing precise command of the strike zone as the Pirates dropped the opener to their three-game set to the Diamondbacks, 7-3 at Chase Field Friday night.
"Well, he throws a ton of strikes," Derek Shelton said. "So, if you get a good pitch to hit, you've got to go after him because he has the weapons to put you away. It wasn't so much of that was the approach, I think he was in the middle of the plate and the fact of when he's in the middle plate, you've got to take swings at it."
But, it was more than just Gallen flexing his pitching persona and blowing it by Pirates hitters. The Pirates (40-48) were oftentimes slapdash in defense, Rich Hill was rocked for five runs in four innings, the Diamondbacks created pressure nearly at will, and the Pirates only mustered seven opportunities with runners in scoring position throughout the evening, with just two coming against Gallen.
"Yeah, they got a good club and that's why they're leading the National League West and they put a ton of pressure on you. We saw it tonight," Shelton said. "(Gallen's) good. It's why he's leading the National League in wins. And, the ability to execute the fastball to both sides of the plate, the addition of the cutter. I mean, the changeup's elite, but he was really good."
The Pirates' offense only could have made up for so much of what the Diamondbacks (51-38) were able to accomplish offensively. They plated their seven runs on 12 hits and stole five bases -- rising rookie Corbin Carroll and Jake McCarthy each stole two -- with Carroll adding a perfectly placed squeeze bunt in between Hill, Carlos Santana, and Nick Gonzales to score McCarthy, which set up Lourdes Gurriel Jr's 414-foot blast to left-center off of Hill's hanging curveball to put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-0 by the end of the third inning.
Gurriel went 3-for-4 with his homer, two doubles, and four RBIs.
Hill lasted four innings. He surrendered five runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out three on 95 pitches.
“Yeah, I didn’t throw the ball well and it’s been really frustrating for me as of late," Hill said. "Putting us in these positions. It’s extremely frustrating, and the ball didn’t come out of my hand the way that I wanted it to. No excuses. The walks are unacceptable, and it’s just — I didn’t throw the ball well, that’s it. I let the guys down in here and that’s the toughest part. I need to figure out what I’m doing and go into the All-Star break, work on some things and come back with a different mindset.”
Hill's outing enabled the Diamondbacks' ninth-ranked offense to display its best attribute -- its speed. Gallen shut the Pirates down in order in the top of the fourth after gaining the 4-0 lead, and after batting around in the previous frame, the hosts went back to work. McCarthy walked to lead off, and Hill had him picked off if not for an errant throw by Santana to second, which allowed McCarthy to escape to third base. Two batters later, Gurriel rocketed a double to left-center to score him for a 5-0 Diamondbacks lead.
In relief for Hill in the sixth, Yohan Ramirez got McCarthy to fly out and got Ketel Marte to ground out. But, with two outs, Carroll singled, stole second, and Gurriel walked. Carroll and Gurriel then attempted a double steal, which succeeded thanks in large part to Austin Hedges' throwing error that allowed Carroll to score. Christian Walker then doubled in Gurriel for a 7-1 Diamondbacks lead.
"They have superior athletes on the field throughout," Shelton said. "I mean, we're talking the three guys they had at the end of the game are 21 years, 22 years old, and are really good athletes and can move. And I mean, what Carroll does, this guy's one of the elite players in the game and he's 22 years old."
Prior to Friday's first pitch, the Pirates placed Andrew McCutchen (elbow) and Ke'Bryan Hayes (lower back) on the 10-day Injured List.
"Cutch is going on the IL with right elbow inflammation, and Ke'Bryan is going back on the IL with back inflammation," Shelton said in his pregame availability. "When Key slid (Thursday against the Dodgers), he flared it back up. And then Cutch's situation, you saw he's been battling this, but the other day when he got knocked down in L.A. and he landed on it, kind of flared it up."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Video to come.
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: 2B Ji Hwan Bae (ankle), OF Andrew McCutchen (elbow), 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (lower back)
• 15-day injured list: LHP Jose Hernandez (calf)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Henry Davis, RF
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Jack Suwinski, CF
4. Carlos Santana,1B
5. Ji-Man Choi, DH
6. Nick Gonzales, 2B
7. Jared Triolo, 3B
8. Tucupita Marcano, SS
9. Austin Hedges, C
And for Torey Lovullo's Diamondbacks:
1. Ketel Marte, 2B
2. Corbin Carroll, CF
3. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., LF
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Evan Longoria, 3B
6. Kyle Lewis, DH
7. Gabriel Moreno, C
8. Nick Ahmed, SS
9. Jake McCarthy, RF
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates have two left here in the desert before the All-Star break. One of their two All-Stars, Mitch Keller (9-4, 3.52 ERA), is scheduled to take the ball in Saturday's game at 4:10 EDT against a Diamondbacks starter to be determined. I will have you covered while Alex Stumpf boards a plane to Seattle for the All-Star festivities.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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