Snakes Strike Again: Pirates Lose In Arizona 9-3

Nick Kingham had no answers for Arizona and the DBacks coasted to their fifth win in as many tries against the Bucs this season in a 9-3 decision.

The Pirates spotted Kingham (1-1) a pair of runs before taking the mound in the first, but Arizona would wind up scoring in each of his four innings pitched. He finished allowing seven runs on 10 hits, walking one and striking out a pair.

Eduardo Escobar was a particular thorn in Kingham’s side, tripling home a pair in the second and homering in the fourth. He fell a double short of the cycle Monday.

Robbie Ray (3-1) settled down after that two run first, but was only able to go five frames. He struck out a half dozen.

The Pirates had a chance to make it a game again in the top of the seventh after starting the inning with three straight singles, but Jimmie Sherfy struck out Melky Cabrera, Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds in succession to escape with a zero.

Bell extended his hitting streak to 13 with a first inning RBI single. He also walked in the fifth and singled again in the ninth. Starling Marte had a three hit night, including a triple.

Rookie reliever Montana DuRapau struck out a pair in his only inning of work.

On Deck

Joe Musgrove (1-4, 4.20) will try to put his last two starts behind him Tuesday against Luke Weaver (3-1, 2.98). First pitch is at 9:40 p.m..

NUMB3RS

1. Kingham got only four whiffs on 92 pitches. It’s the fewest he ever had in a start in his major league career.

2. Both of Escobar’s hits against Kingham had a hit probability of 10% or less. The triple had an xBA of .100, and the homer .070, per Baseball Savant.

3. Bell’s 13 game hitting streak is the longest active one in the majors.