Diamondbacks need 12 innings, but they sweep Bucs
PITTSBURGH — The Arizona Diamondbacks aren't letting late deficits keep them down.
For the second straight game, Arizona rallied for a win, this one in extra innings.
Alex Romero's two-run double highlighted a five-run 12th inning Thursday to cap a comeback from three runs down that gave the Diamondbacks an 11-6 victory for their fifth straight win over the Pirates.
"That was one of the more resilient victories that we've showed," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. "To play the bottom of the sixth like we did and give up the four runs — we threw the ball around the field a little bit — but we bounced back."
Romero's fourth hit was a double to right-center field off Steven Jackson (2-2) with the bases loaded and one out in the 12th.
Pitcher Dan Haren followed with a sacrifice fly as a pinch-hitter, and Miguel Montero added an RBI single with Gerardo Parra scoring on a throwing error for the final run.
Mark Reynolds, Stephen Drew and Trent Oeltjen homered and Parra had four hits for Arizona, which won for the seventh time in eight games. Arizona, which finished with 21 hits, won for the 11th time this season when trailing after six innings.
"Nobody's giving up," Reynolds said. "We're playing hard, and we're having a good road trip so far."
Delwyn Young, Ronny Cedeno and Lastings Milledge had two hits each and at least an RBI for the Pirates, who have lost five straight and 10 of 12.
Kevin Hart was in line to win his debut with the Pirates a week after he was acquired from the Chicago Cubs, but Pittsburgh's bullpen again couldn't hold a lead.
"Arizona's hot right now. It seems like their whole lineup's hitting," Pirates manager John Russell said. "They're hot, and we had a chance to put them away and we didn't."
Jon Rauch (2-0) worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the 11th for the win. Romero went 4 for 7 with three RBIs and two runs, while Parra was 4 for 6.
Making his major league debut because Justin Upton was placed on the disabled list, Oeltjen hit a towering homer into the elevated right-field seats leading off the eighth to tie the game at 6.
Reynolds' homer was his 33rd and 12th since July 1 — most in the majors in that time. It led off the sixth and went deep into the far bullpen in left-center to give Arizona its first lead, 3-2. Reynolds, who had an RBI double in the third, was removed from the game in the ninth after experiencing pain in his rib cage.
Cedeno's two-run single in the sixth gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead and knocked out Max Scherzer. He allowed five runs, seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 5Z\c innings.
Pinch-hitter Steve Pearce followed with a double to center off Juan Gutierrez to drive in Cedeno, who came around to score on an errant throw by Montero.
Drew led off the seventh with his eighth homer and Montero had an RBI groundout.
Hart allowed three runs and nine hits with five strikeouts in six innings. He has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his five major league starts.
"I thought he threw the ball well," Russell said. "He had good stuff, used both sides of the plate and had a nice offspeed mix as well. He was aggressive with the fastball. We're very excited he's in the rotation. We're looking forward to seeing him pitch a number of years down the road."
Jackson was demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis after the game and the Pirates recalled right-hander Jose Ascanio, who was also part of the trade last week with the Cubs.
