Pirates trail Diamondbacks 5-0 as Pfaadt dominates early
The Arizona Diamondbacks led the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 through five innings Tuesday night at PNC Park, with Brandon Pfaadt tossing four scoreless frames while Bubba Chandler allowed five runs. The Game 2 pitching duel came after Pittsburgh won Monday's series opener 3-2, heightening wild-card stakes for both clubs.
Key Takeaways
- The Pirates trailed 5-0 after Arizona scored in each of the first four innings against Bubba Chandler.
- Brandon Pfaadt worked four scoreless innings on 51 pitches with four hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
- Chandler entered at 3-8 with a 4.47 ERA after 6.1 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his prior start.
- Monday's 3-2 Pirates win in extras raised the stakes of this three-game set at PNC Park.
How did the Pirates fall behind so quickly?
According to Yahoo Sports live updates, Geraldo Perdomo tripled and scored in the first to put Arizona ahead 1-0. The Diamondbacks added two more in the second, helped by a sharply hit grounder that second baseman Brandon Lowe did not field cleanly, ruled a single.
Nolan Arenado drove in a run with a single through the left side in the third. An error by Lowe then allowed Arizona's fifth run in the fourth. Arenado and James McCann each had two hits, and the Diamondbacks were 9-for-24 through five innings.
What did Brandon Pfaadt and Bubba Chandler bring into the matchup?
Pfaadt entered 5-1 with a 4.43 ERA and had won each of his last five starts after going winless in his first 13 appearances, Bucs Dugout reported. In five starts since rejoining the rotation, he was 5-0 with a 2.33 ERA over 27 innings.
Chandler, a rookie averaging 98.6 mph on his four-seam fastball, was 3-8 with a 4.47 ERA. His previous outing was his best of the season: 6.1 scoreless innings with two hits and one walk against New York. Before that, he failed to finish the fifth in his prior two starts.
On Tuesday, Pfaadt was economical again, cruising through four innings on 51 pitches with no walks. Arizona's lineup featured Corbin Carroll leading off, Gabriel Moreno as DH, Ketel Marte cleanup, and McCann catching behind Pfaadt.
Why does this series matter for the Pirates?
The clubs are in the second game of a three-game series in Pittsburgh. Sports Illustrated noted that while it is not a must-win with two months left, Game 2 mattered for wild-card tiebreaker positioning and for pushing Arizona's front office toward a buyer's stance near the trade deadline.
Manager Torey Lovullo said he slept poorly after Monday's collapse, when Bryan Reynolds' RBI double tied the game in the eighth. Pittsburgh closed out the 3-2 win in extras. For more celebrity and breaking sports buzz, see BlasterPost celebrity breaking news.
Wednesday's rubber-match setup lists Eduardo Rodriguez against Jared Jones at PNC Park, keeping the Pirates' late-July stretch firmly in focus.