Diamondbacks Bullpen Spoils Corbin Burnes' Gem

The Arizona Diamondbacks blew a six-run lead in a gut-wrenching 9-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field. Corbin Burnes turned in another strong start on the mound, but the bullpen suffered another meltdown, allowing seven runs in the eighth to lose it.

The offense broke through immediately against Pirates rookie Mike Burrows. Corbin Carroll took the third pitch the right-hander threw and deposited it in the right-field seats to put the Diamondbacks up 1-0. Carroll had gone hitless in his previous 14 at-bats before the blast.

That gave Burnes a lead he would not relinquish. The Diamondbacks' ace spun seven strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. It marked the fifth straight start he's logged a quality start, and the sixth time in his last eight. In his last eight starts, he's 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA.

Burnes was helped out by some terrific defensive plays by the infielders behind him. Eugenio Suárez, Geraldo Perdomo, Jordan Lawlar, and Josh Naylor were all sharp defensively, getting some tough outs to keep the game flowing and keeping Pittsburgh from building any innings offensively.

The offense chased Burrows from the game in the fourth. Gabriel Moreno barreled a high fastball to the right-center gap for a one-out triple. Alek Thomas cashed in with an RBI single over a drawn-in infield after a six-pitch at-bat. Lawlar walked after a long at-bat, wearing down the Pirates starter as the lineup turned over for the third time. After Burrows failed to field a comebacker from Carroll, he was pulled in favor of Joey Wentz.

After failing to capitalize on a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first, the Diamondbacks ensured they wouldn't against Wentz in the fourth. Perdomo, who entered play hitting .302 with runners in scoring position, blooped a ball in shallow right to plate two and double their lead. Lourdes Gurriel and Josh Naylor singled through the left side of the infield to make it 6-0.

After that big inning, the Diamondbacks did not get another baserunner against Wentz. That allowed the Pirates to start chipping away at Arizona's pitching and eventually come back when the bullpen imploded in the eighth.

The Pirates clipped Burnes for two runs on a Henry Davis two-run home run in the sixth, his only blemish on the night. The inning started to unravel, as he hit Adam Frazier with a pitch and an infield single to Tommy Pham. Ke'Bryan Hayes smoked a hard-hit grounder up the middle, with an exit velocity of 102.0 MPH, but Lawlar made a diving snare and got the force at second on Pham to temporarily save the game.

However, that was merely a temporary reprieve. The Pirates struck against the Diamondbacks' bullpen, who only held the lead for one out. Kevin Ginkel struggled once again, retiring just one of six hitters faced to blow the lead. Jalen Beeks proceeded to pour more gasoline on the fire, serving up a three-run homer to Reynolds that gave Pittsburgh a 9-6 lead.

The Diamondbacks failed to answer offensively, with the Pirates pitchers retiring the final 17 hitters.

The Diamondbacks will play the rubber game of the series at Chase Field Wednesday afternoon at 12:40 p.m. MST. They'll face a tough customer with Paul Skenes taking the mound for Pittsburgh, as he'll face a struggling Zac Gallen.