Pirates drop rubber match to Rockies

The rough stretch continued for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they dropped their series finale with the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, on Wednesday.

Tucupita Marcano gave the Pirates an early lead with a solo home run in the second inning of starter Antonio Senzatella.

Andrew McCutchen then extended the lead with a two-run shot in the third.

Despite the early padding, the Rockies climbed back and tied the game in the fourth thanks to a double by Randal Grichuk and back-to-back singles by Austin Wynns and Alan Trejo.

The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the sixth by loading the bases with no outs, but came away with no runs.

Connor Joe worked a full count but struck out on a pitch that caught the outer part of the strike zone for the first out, then the Rockies turned a rally-killing double play. Rodolfo Castro lined a ball to center that was caught by Brenton Doyle who then nabbed Bryan Reynolds at home.

Jurickson Profar put the Rockies ahead for good with a single off Robert Stephenson in the seventh.

The Pirates had one last shot at a comeback in the ninth after Castro and Ji Hwan Bae reached, but Josh Palacios struck out to end the game.

Some bright spots from the action were McCutchen putting in a 3-for-3 day at the plate with the aforementioned home run, Bryan Reynolds adding another double to his stat sheet, and Dauri Moreta striking out three hitters over two innings of perfect relief.

The loss capped off an underwhelming homestand for the Pirates, who won one out of six games. They return to action Friday night as they start a road series with the Baltimore Orioles.

Only one can hope that this roster looks a bit different tomorrow.