Looking to win a game against Arizona and avoid any more injuries, the Pirates accomplished one thing in a dismal, 11-2 loss.
Jordan Lyles bore no resemblance to the pitcher from his first three starts, as the Diamondbacks teed off on him from the start. In the first two innings, he gave up six hits, four of them for extra bases. That put Arizona up, 4-0.
Lyles hung around through five, but with the Pirates’ anemic offense, the game was already out of reach. They had some chances early — two on with two out in the first and a leadoff double in the second — but did what they normally do with runners in scoring position. For the game, they were 0-for-8 in those situations.
Josh Bell finally put the Pirates on the board in the fourth with his fifth home run, a long blast to center. (Bell later had a double, but cleverly got himself thrown out at third with the Pirates trailing by lots of runs.) Lyles, though, gave that back to the first batter he faced, in the next half inning, Ketel Marte, who would later hit another.
The Pirates mostly sleepwalked the rest of the way. Jung Ho Kang did hit his fourth home run, to straightaway center, in the sixth to make the game briefly look sort-of respectable. Kang also had a double, which is a good sign. But Nick Kingham blew the game up, allowing three runs in the seventh. Steven Brault gave up three more in the eighth, but considering that it was his first game appearance in 16 days, it’s hard to blame him. Some guy who came into the game with an ERA in double figures held the Pirates scoreless over the last two innings and the Pirates had their fourth straight loss.
So, nobody was hurt. The Pirates will try to avoid the four-game sweep at home tomorrow at 12:35pm.