The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped their third straight in a brutal loss to one of their biggest Wild Card competitors.
A two-run lead is never the most comfortable thing in the world, especially when the Pittsburgh Pirates kept chipping away the way they did.
The Arizona Diamondbacks fell to 55-52 after they dropped their third. All three have been on the road, but there's no room for excuses from this D-backs team, one that is in a crucial Wild Card race.
After picking up a 3-2 win in 10 innings over the Diamondbacks, the Pirates would now hold the tiebreaker over Arizona for the final Wild Card spot.
These games are as crucial as it gets, so there's simply no reason for the D-backs to be blowing a comfortable lead they picked up at the top of the sixth inning. If somehow Arizona ends up missing the playoffs by one game, this would be the one to go back and revisit as the loss that changed everything.
How Pirates scored their first two runs
Max Kepler had himself a night, going 3-for-5 and driving in both of the Diamondbacks' runs. Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo were each 1-for-5 at the top of the order, but those hits led to them both touching home in the sixth inning.
After a seven-batter top half of the sixth inning, Merrill Kelly tried to stretch it out and go six. The 37-year-old was in a seven-pitch battle to record the first out of the inning, but then he gave up a single just two pitches later.
While Kelly was trying to keep leadoff hitter Jake Mangum at first base, he threw it away and the speedy center fielder was able to go from first to third. Kelly then found himself in another seven-pitch battle, but the Pirates won this one as Brandon Lowe drove in Mangum.
Kelly recorded the second out of the inning just one pitch later, but was then pulled after a nine-pitch walk.
Kelly's run may have been unearned, but Jonathan Loaisiga didn't get that lucky. The 31-year-old blew his fourth save of the year, though it's worth noting this was his first blown save since Monday, April 13.
Loaisiga recorded the first two outs on six pitches, but then he allowed back-to-back doubles, which allowed Lowe and Bryan Reynolds to switch spots on the basepaths. Reynolds was left stranded, but at that point the damage was done as the game was now tied, 2-2.
Diamondbacks come up empty in extras
The Pirates got one over on the D-backs in the 10th as they intentionally walked Ketel Marte to bring up Kepler. Even though he was having himself a night, he lined out on the first pitch he saw.
Officially, Taylor Clarke took the loss as he couldn't hold the Pirates' ghost runner from scoring in the bottom of the 10th. Lowe was the hero, walking things off to cap off a tremendous 3-for-5 night with a pair of RBIs.
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