Luis Ortiz shelled, Oneil Cruz records 5 hits and Pirates fall to Diamondbacks
PITTSBURGH — Josh Bell homered from both sides of the plate in his Arizona debut, Ketel Marte also hit two home runs and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 Friday night after blowing a five-run lead.
Acquired Tuesday from the Miami Marlins for cash considerations, Bell tied the game at 7 with two outs in the seventh with his second home run of the night, hammering Aroldis Chapman’s slider 370 feet to right.
Geraldo Perdomo, after fouling a ball off the inside of his right knee, drove a sweeper from Colin Holderman (3-3) to the gap in right-center for a go-ahead double in the eighth.
Marte then hit his second homer of the game and 26th of the season in the ninth off an 0-1 cutter from Dennis Santana.
Justin Martínez (5-2) struck out the side with one walk in the eighth for the victory.
Oneil Cruz led off the ninth for Pittsburgh with a single, his fifth hit, and scored on Rowdy Tellez's one-out RBI single. Ryan Thompson then got Joey Bart and Ke'Bryan Hayes to ground out for his second save.
Cruz's RBI single in the sixth put Pittsburgh — down 5-0 in the first — ahead 7-6. Andrew McCutchen scored on the slow dribbler, initially called out on a throw by second baseman Marte before it was overturned on a challenge.
McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds hit RBI singles ahead of Cruz in a four-run sixth.
The Diamondbacks scored on their first four at-bats against Luis Ortiz, who allowed six runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Leadoff batter Corbin Carroll tripled down the right-field line before going home when a relay from Cruz got past Hayes at third.
Marte followed with first homer. Joc Pederson then sent a slider from Luis Ortiz 430 feet to right and into the Allegheny River, and Bell made it three straight homers with one to right-center on the first pitch he saw as a Diamondback. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. later scored on a groundout from Alek Thomas.
Bart hit an RBI single in the fourth before McCutchen and Reynolds had consecutive two-out doubles in the fifth. Cruz cut it to 5-3 on a single off Brandon Pfaadt, who gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Thomas had an RBI single for Arizona in the sixth.
Pirates: INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (left knee sprain) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Altoon. Acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, the 29-year-old utilityman has been on the IL since July 2.
RHP Mitch Keller (10-5, 3.30 ERA) was set to start Saturday for the Pirates, opposite LHP Jordan Montgomery (7-5, 6.51).
