Pirates escape wild 9th inning in Arizona, get Mitch Keller his 1st win in a month

With the Pittsburgh Pirates carrying a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, starting pitcher Mitch Keller was well on his way to earning his first win since July 11.

Things went a bit off script from there. With the bases loaded and nobody out, second baseman Rodolfo Castro made a mental error on a routine double play but was bailed out by an Arizona baserunning blunder, and the Pirates held on for a 6-4 victory.

Keller (4-8) went 5⅓ innings while every Pirates batter but Michael Chavis recorded a hit at Chase Field in Phoenix.

“We did some really good things,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Big hits at bit times. … Overall, good team victory.”

The Pirates drew first blood in the top of the third, with clean-up man Ben Gamel hitting a two-out, two-run double to right-center field, plating Jason Delay and Kevin Newman.

Gamel later produced his third RBI of the game in the ninth inning, scoring Bryan Reynolds from third on a grounder to second base.

Delay, batting ninth, led off the third inning with a walk, while Newman followed with a slick no-look bunt for a base hit, catching both Arizona starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner and third baseman Emmanuel Rivera off guard.

Newman had a productive night at the plate, going 3 of 5 with a run scored.

The Pirates added an insurance run in the fourth, which also came with two outs. Tucupita Marcano was hit by a pitch and made it to third base when a grounder by Delay made it out of the infield.

Marcano was attempting to steal second base when Delay’s would-be routine grounder got by D-Backs’ second baseman Ketel Marte, who was out of position in trying to cover the bag.

Delay was then picked off by Bumgarner, but not before his rundown provided enough time for the speedy Marcano to cross home plate, extending the Pirates’ lead to 3-0.

Arizona got two back in the bottom of the fourth, with Keller allowing an RBI single to Marte that scored Jake McCarthy, whom Keller hit to begin the rally.

Alek Thomas, whose single advanced McCarthy to second earlier in the inning, later scored on a sacrifice fly by Christian Walker.

After a scoreless fifth inning, the Pirates got to Bumgarner with two outs in the sixth, thanks to three straight hits.

Rodolfo Castro, following Tuesday evening’s well-reported mishap, left his cell phone in the clubhouse and got things started with a stand-up triple to right field that Daulton Varsho was unable to catch on the warning track.

Greg Allen scored Castro on a hard-hit double to right-center field, which also eluded Varsho. Marcano then smacked an RBI single to right field that scored Allen from second.

Castro went 2 of 4 on the night.

Colin Holderman entered the sixth inning in relief of Keller with runners on first and third, allowing Thomas to score (a run charged to Keller) on a sacrifice fly.

Holderman pitched the seventh, as well, allowing no hits and striking out one in his 1⅔-inning relief appearance. He was followed by Wil Crowe, who pitched a scoreless eighth.

Crowe stayed on to pitch the ninth and quickly got into a jam, loading the bases with no outs after allowing back-to-back singles and a walk of Seth Beer, who gave way to pinch-runner Sergio Alcantara.

The D-Backs’ next batter, Carson Kelly, hit a sharp grounder to Ke’Bryan Hayes, which scored Varsho but caused an extended moment of confusion when both Rivera and Alcantara both found themselves on second base.

Hayes threw to Castro at second to force out Alcantara. Instead of throwing to first to complete the double play, Castro threw to Newman covering third, catching Rivera in a rundown.

Newman ran Rivera back to second, and with Alcantara standing on the bag, a confused Rivera did not stand on the base. Newman tagged him out, bailing out Castro for his ill-advised decision not to throw to first.

A review confirmed the unusual 5-4-6 double play.

“The umpires ended up getting it right,” Shelton said. “… We’ve just got to turn the double play there.”

Shelton then brought in lefty Eric Stout to get the final out of the game, with Jordan Luplow flying out to Gamel to secure Stout’s first career save.

The Pirates and Diamondbacks wrap their four-game series at 3:40 p.m. Thursday, with JT Brubaker taking the mound as the Pirates eye a series split.