Pirates shut down Arizona rally, end 9-game slide
PITTSBURGH — The late-inning comeback was exceptional, coming on the road in a tight NL West race during the final week of the season. The Arizona Diamondbacks' only problem was they couldn't finish it.
Pinch-hitter Josh Phelps singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth after Pittsburgh blew a four-run lead in the top of the inning, and the Pirates halted a nine-game losing streak by beating the Diamondbacks 6-5 Tuesday night.
Arizona lost its second in a row after winning four straight and its NL West lead was cut to two games over second-place San Diego, which rallied with two outs in the ninth for a 6-4 victory at San Francisco.
"This is a tough loss, to come back like we did, a bunch of guys got a lot of big hits. It's a tough one," Eric Byrnes said. "This team has a lot of fight in it. It impresses me every night."
The Diamondbacks trailed 5-1 going into the eighth but scored four runs against three relievers to tie it. Chris Snyder's RBI double off Romulo Sanchez led to pinch-hitter Conor Jackson's two-run single and Stephen Drew's tying single, with those two hits against John Grabow.
"We battled back beautifully. Iit's a shame," manager Bob Melvin said. "I really felt like we were in a good position to win that game."
After Byrnes grounded out with runners on first and third to end the rally, Adam LaRoche doubled with one out in the bottom half and Phelps, in a 3-for-25 slump, singled between third and short against Brandon Lyon (6-4), Arizona's sixth pitcher.
Phelps balked LaRoche to third ahead of the single, but it is likely LaRoche would have scored even if he had been on second.
Salomon Torres (2-4) got the victory by getting the final out. Matt Capps finished with a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances, and his first since giving up Scott Hairston's three-run homer in the ninth that rallied San Diego past Pittsburgh 5-3 last Wednesday.
"The last nine days have been very difficult for us," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "And we're going to try to come after them again tomorrow."
Ian Snell, making his final start of the season, limited Arizona to one run over six innings by stranding seven runners but did not figure in the decision.
Snell complained recently of having a slightly sore arm and, after pitching a career-high 208 innings, will be skipped over for what would have been his final start of the season Sunday. The right-hander allowed only six earned runs in 33 innings over five starts in September, a 1.64 ERA, giving up one run or no runs four times, and has a 3.76 ERA for the season despite a 9-12 record.
