Pederson's HR rallies Diamondbacks to a 6-5 win; no-decision for Pirates rookie Paul Skenes
Joc Pederson's three-run home run in the seventh inning rallied the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-5 win on Sunday as Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes got a no-decision after taking a shutout into the sixth inning.
Pederson hit a two-out drive to left-center field off struggling Colin Holderman (3-4) to turn a 4-2 deficit into a one-run lead. Pederson's 17th homer of the season came after Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll walked.
Ketel Marte added a solo home run, his 27th, in the ninth inning off Jake Woodford to give the Diamondbacks an insurance run. Arizona won its sixth straight series for the ninth time in 11 games.
The Pirates got within 6-5 on Bryan Reynolds' one-out RBI single in the ninth off Ryan Thompson. However, A.J. Puk relieved with runners on first and third and struck out Oneil Cruz on an 11-pitch at-bat and then got Bryan De La Cruz to fly out.
Holderman has a 7.94 ERA in his last 12 appearances, raising his season mark from 1.21 to 3.07.
Skenes allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings against the highest-scoring team in the NL while striking out four and walking three. It was only the third time the 22-year-old did not make it through six innings in his 14 major league starts.
The strikeouts were Skenes' second-lowest total. He had three against San Francisco on May 23 in his third start. Overall, he has struck out 107 in 86 innings.
Skenes' streak of eight consecutive quality starts ended and his ERA rose to 1.99 as the Pirates lost for the third time in four games.
Carroll had two hits to extend his on-base streak to 21 games and Pederson and Jake McCarthy also had a pair of hits.
Paul Sewald (1-2) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win two days after being removed from the closer's role by manager Torey Lovullo.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled and tripled in his second game with the Pirates since being acquired from Toronto at Tuesday's trade deadline. Yasmani Grandal had three hits and Reynolds finished with two.
Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson gave up four runs and six hits in five innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. He had been 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA in his previous five starts.
All four runs off Nelson came in the first two innings as the Pirates took a 4-0 lead.
Kiner-Falefa led off the first with a double and scored on a single by De La Cruz, who the Pirates got from Miami in a trade on Tuesday. Grandal hit a run-scoring double in the second and Kiner-Falefa followed by driving a two-run triple off the right-field wall.
The Diamondbacks chased Skenes during a two-run sixth that started with a triple by Carroll. Carroll scored on a single by Pederson and McCarthy greeted Hunter Stratton with an RBI single.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: DH Andrew McCutchen (strained left quad) was out of the lineup after being injured Saturday night but pinch-hit in the ninth inning and drew a walk.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (9-5, 3.56) starts Monday night in the opener of a three-game series at Cleveland. Gallen has won both career starts against the Guardians.
Pirates: Begin a three-game home series against San Diego on Tuesday night with LHP Bailey Falter (5-7, 3.95) scheduled to start for Pittsburgh.
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This story has been corrected to show that Marte has 27 home runs, not 20.
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