Storming Back
PHOENIX — The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't just rally, they routed the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Josh Harrison — who struck out four times the previous night — tripled, doubled and scored twice and the Pirates erupted in the final two innings to beat the Diamondbacks 9-4 on Friday night.
Pittsburgh scored the last nine runs, including eight in the eighth and ninth.
It was the 27th comeback win for the Pirates.
“It's just what we do,” Harrison said. “We know we're not done 'til the last out.”
Arizona's All-Star Paul Goldschmidt was hit in the left hand by a pitch from Ernesto Frieri in the ninth inning. The hand was covered with a bandage afterward and Goldschmidt said he hadn't gotten the X-ray results.
Jordy Mercer had an RBI double, Michael Martinez and Russell Martin RBI singles and Travis Snider a two-run single in the Pirates' tiebreaking five-run ninth.
“It's backyard baseball,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “It's nothing spectacular. We just play.”
Tony Watson (8-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the win. Bo Schultz (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Reno on Tuesday, gave up all five in the ninth.
While some of Goldschmidt's teammates were suspicious he was hit on purpose, he didn't think so.
“Guys have to try and get outs. What do you want them to do? Just throw it down the middle? They pitch inside as a team. We do it too. We want our pitchers to be able to pitch inside. You don't want to see anyone get hurt but sometimes it may or may not happen.”
Ender Inciarte's three-run homer had helped Arizona take a 4-0 lead through five innings and Vidal Nuno appeared headed for his first victory in five starts since coming in the trade that sent Brandon McCarthy to the New York Yankees.
However, the Pirates battered the Arizona bullpen with 10 hits in the last two innings.
In the fifth, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson challenged a wild pitch call that ended up with Didi Gregorius on third, but with two outs. He won the challenge, the review determining that the batter Nuno was hit in the foot by the pitch.
