PHOENIX -- At two key points in the Pirates' first-half finale Sunday at Chase Field, the bullpen could have fallen to the Diamondbacks' brand of baseball, much like it had done through the first two games of this last series before the All-Star break.
Leadoff doubles in the fourth and sixth innings would normally spell disaster when delivered by the eighth-ranked offense in Major League Baseball, but the visitors shut down both Arizona opportunities, allowing for a 4-2 victory into the All-Star break.
"No. 1, they're good, and they put a ton of pressure on you and with us being a bullpen day, and our bullpen was outstanding," Derek Shelton said. "I think we had two runner at third, less than two out situations that we were able to execute. So, really proud of that group and really proud of our pitching group because we got the right matchups."
The crunch-time deliveries came from Osvaldo Bido in the fourth and Yerry de los Santos in the sixth. With the game tied at 2 in the fourth inning, Bido allowed a leadoff double to Christian Walker, who advanced to third on Lourdes Gurriel's groundout to second. Bido then got Emmanuel Rivera to pop out in foul territory on a 2-1 pitch, and Jake McCarthy was late on a high fastball as he sent it to Bryan Reynolds in left field to end the threat.
Bido was the third Pirates reliever used Sunday, following opener Carmen Mlodzinski and Ryan Borucki. Bido earned his first major-league win by working 1.1 scoreless innings.
"It's awesome. Any time you're dealing with a little adversity you overcome, it's always huge," said David Bednar, who earned his 17h save by striking out two in the ninth Sunday. "A nice little momentum shift. And also, I thought Yerry going in there and shutting the door was really big for us, too."
De Los Santos, as Bednar referred to, quelled the second threat that loomed large in the sixth inning. This time with a 3-2 Pirates lead thanks to a Jack Suwinski's sacrifice fly in the fifth, de los Santos entered the game with Ketel Marte standing on third base with one out.
With the infield drawn in, he utilized his sinker to get Walker to ground out to short, keeping Marte at third, for the second out. Gurriel then pounded another de los Santos sinker into the dirt at Marcano, who made the play to retire the scoring threat.
"Every night’s a dogfight, and especially when you’ve got a bullpen game," Colin Holderman said. "It’s just a little bit harder. Everyone’s got to click and everyone has to have a good day, so it’s definitely pretty difficult.”
One day after giving up the lead in the eighth inning, Holderman came back and was able to hold the Diamondbacks off the board in the same frame on Sunday, despite allowing a leadoff single to Alek Thomas and seeing him sacrificed to second. Thomas reached third on a Marte groundout to Carlos Santana, and had it not been for Santana's pick of Marcano's short-hopped throw on Corbin Carroll's grounder to follow, Thomas likely would have scored and tied the game off of Holderman.
"I think if you look at it, Santana's played about as well at first as anybody in the game in the first half of the season," Shelton said. "It doesn't get sped up and it shows you how much pressure they put on you, because Carroll can run. But, Carlos is a veteran and he handled himself that way."
In all, the seven Pirates relievers combined to shut Arizona down to the tune of four hits, while one of the two runs went unearned. Mlodzinski walked two and struck out one in 1.1 innings. Borucki struck out three.
Playing in his third game since returning from the injured list, Ji-Man Choi went 2-for-4 with a double and an opposite-field, two-run home run in the top of the second inning.
“It hasn’t been too difficult adjusting because I’ve had some time in Triple-A and I’ve had a couple games up here, so coming back up here it hasn’t been too difficult to adjust," Choi said through translator Daniel Park. "... I feel like my balance is really good right now, so I’m going to be resting during the All-Star break and coming after, I’m going to be more ready.”
• In his weekly radio show before the game, general manager Ben Cherington provided insight on Andrew McCutchen (elbow) and Ke'Bryan Hayes (lower back) hitting the injured list before the start of the series in Arizona.
With McCutchen, it was about trying to minimize time missed after the All-Star break.
"We decided to do that with him," Cherington said. "It felt like the right choice. We hope when we get past the break and he’ll be eligible sometime during that weekend series against the Giants. We’re hopeful he’ll be back at that point."
And as for Hayes, while there is no long-term concern for his back, Cherington noted Hayes hadn't been feeling like himself.
"We felt with him he was trending to a point where he was ready to be activated," Cherington said. "We thought we could manage his work volume a bit in the few games prior to the All-Star break. With a day off here and there and the All-Star break, we thought we could manage it and get through with him active. That was our hope. With the All-Star break, that time off would finish off the recovery. Unfortunately, he just didn’t feel good enough. He didn’t feel like himself as a hitter."
• The Pirates drafted LSU starter Paul Skenes first overall Sunday evening. Alex Stumpf is all over it from Seattle.
• I don't get to make baseball trips often, and this was a fun one to make. Thanks for following along.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
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. Jack Suwinski, CF
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Henry Davis, RF
4. Carlos Santana,1B
5. Ji-Man Choi, DH
6. Jared Triolo, 3B
7. Tucupita Marcano, SS
8. Nick Gonzales, 2B
9. Austin Hedges, C
And for Torey Lovullo's Diamondbacks:
1. Geraldo Perdomo, SS
2. Ketel Marte, 2B
3. Corbin Carroll, LF
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., DH
6. Emmanuel Rivera, 3B
7. Jake McCarthy, RF
8. Carson Kelly, C
9. Alek Thomas, CF
THE SCHEDULE
The All-Star break is upon us. Alex Stumpf will have everything covered from Seattle. The Pirates begin the second half of their season with a six-game home stand against the Giants and Guardians on Friday. First pitch against the Giants is at 7:05 p.m. Friday at PNC Park.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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