Serving a one-game suspension after one of his relievers was ejected two days earlier, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly could only watch from a private box as his team had their three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Taking advantage of control issues by starter Bubba Chandler and reliever Yohan Ramirez, the Diamondbacks rolled to a 9-0 victory at Chase Field that snapped their four-game losing streak.
The Pirates, meantime, had just two hits and were shut out by Eduardo Rodriguez and two relievers.
Kelly was banished from the dugout, while reliever Chris Devenski served the first of a two-game suspension for hitting Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart on Sunday. Bench coach Kristopher Negron managed in Kelly’s absence.
Chandler (1-4) tied a season high by walking six batters in five innings. Ramirez walked one and hit two other batters in a five-run sixth that gave Arizona a comfortable seven-run cushion. Dennis Santana allowed the final two runs.
“Bubba got himself into trouble early,” Negron said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I’m proud of the way he battled back. The first inning got away from him. … He had a few more walks after that, but for the most part, he did an unbelievable job grinding through five innings.”
Chandler lost his third consecutive start, allowing two runs on five hits. Although he allowed just two hits, Chandler also issued six walks, including three in a two-run first that was his undoing.
This led to an elevated pitch count (92) and an exit after the fifth.
Chandler leads the majors with 26 walks.
“He’s young, and he’s got absolutely electric stuff,” Negron said. “He’s going to keep growing and growing. When he can compete in the zone more often, his stuff is going to play up even more. He’s got electric stuff coming out of his hands.”
Rodriguez (3-0) pitched seven shutout innings, holding the Pirates to two hits while lowering his ERA to 2.50. He had a season-high seven strikeouts and wasn’t hurt by any of the three walks he issued.
Konnor Griffin had one of the hits, a sixth-inning double that extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Griffin is 11 for 25 with three doubles, a triple, home run, three RBIs and four walks during the streak, and he has increased his batting average to .267.
“He’s gaining confidence in the box every game,” Negron said. “He looks more comfortable up here in the big leagues.”
Chandler needed 38 pitches to get through the first inning. The Diamondbacks scored twice and had the bases loaded when the third out was recorded.
Chandler faced eight batters in the first. When he walked Nolan Arenado to load the bases with two outs, Ramirez started warming up in the bullpen.
With one out, Ketel Marte hit a triple off the wall in left-center. After a walk, Chandler got the second out on Adrian Del Castillo’s sacrifice fly to center. The Pirates’ outfield defense didn’t do any favors on Ildemaro Vargas’ fly ball to right-center. Bryan Reynolds appeared to have a jump on the ball, but he pulled up short when Oneil Cruz converged from center. The ball dropped between the pair for an RBI double.
“The wind was swirling a lot up there,” Negron said. “The ball carried and kept going more and more to the gap. … Throughout the game, even the balls that were barreled out to center field were kind of moving around and not going as far as we thought.”
Chandler didn’t use the weather conditions or a lapse in defense as an excuse. He lamented a walk earlier in the inning that came after an 0-2 count. The runner scored on the double.
“I gave up the hit, the ball in the air,” he said. “There’s no reason the six-hole (hitter) should be having an at-bat in the first.”
Chandler regrouped and retired the side in order in the second and third innings. His control issues resurfaced in the fourth when he walked the first two batters, but he got two ground balls, including an inning-ending double play, to escape the jam.
“Most innings were clean after the first,” Chandler said. “There were a couple of times I got in trouble.”
Ramirez also struggled with his control after he entered in the sixth. He retired just one of the seven batters he faced as the Diamondbacks hiked their lead to 7-0.
A one-out walk led to Ramirez’s downfall. He hit the next batter, and Gabriel Ramirez dropped an RBI double down the right-field line. Ramirez hit another batter, and Geraldo Perdomo followed with a two-run double to shallow right field. A fielder’s choice and sacrifice fly brought in the final two runs of the five-run inning.
Marte and Del Castillo drove in runs against Santana in the eighth.