Diamondbacks 10, Pirates 12

Robbie Ray clearly did not have his best stuff, and was struggling from a first inning in which he left the bases loaded. The Diamondbacks then took the lead on Paul Goldschmidt's fourth home-run of the year, but in the third, the Pirates struck back, scoring three. It looked like Ray might be done, but a three-run homer off the bat of Welington Castillo got him the lead and perhaps convinced Chip Hale to let Ray go out there again. It didn't end well, as Ray and Tyler Wagner combined, not helped by a Goldschmidt error, to allow a five-run fourth for the visitors and give them an 8-4 lead.

But the D-backs, as often, did not go quietly. They scored two in the eighth, and Goldy's second home-run of the game, with one out in the ninth, pushed us into extras. Arizona had chances - on third with one out in the tenth (Jake Lamb out, going on contact) and second with one out in the eleventh. After the fourth, the bullpen had been excellent: Wagner, Randall Delgado, Andrew Chafin, Brad Ziegler and Daniel Hudson tossing seven scoreless. But Tyler Clippard allowed a two-out walk, then two RBI hits in the 12th, though RBI from David Peralta and Jean Segura then tied things back up - the D-backs wasted another winning run on third with one out, when Brandon Drury K'd.

Nick Ahmed had been ejected in the 12th, arguing a bad strike three call, and with no position players left, we saw Shelby Miller in left field. It didn't matter defensively, as Evan Marshall allowed back-tp-back doubles, like Clippard also surrendering his first earned run of the year, and later an RBI single to an opposing pinch-hitting pitcher. The D-backs weren't able to close this third gap - their last two AB were by Patrick Corbin and Miller - dropping the game and, with it, their third straight home series. Goldschmidt had two home-runs and three walks, Castillo three hits and two walks, and Drury three hits for the D-backs.

Jack_Harris009 will be along in a bit, with a recap of what could have been one of the most amazing wins of all time by the Diamondbacks, but instead probably counts as one of the most irritating losses.