PHOENIX _ Jose Osuna was the difference. His two-out, go-ahead blast off Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Tom Wilhelmsen in the 10th inning Sunday at Chase Field saved the Pirates from certain embarrassment and instead delivered their second consecutive win
On an afternoon when Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt blasted two home runs off right-hander Ivan Nova and part of the Pirates bullpen melted in the eighth inning, the Pirates hammered three home runs and held on in extra innings to split the series with a 6-4 win.
The Pirates (16-22) scored four runs in the first three innings, including home runs by Andrew McCutchen and Josh Bell, and added no more runs until the extra inning. They collected no hits between the sixth inning and Osuna's homer, his second this season, in the 10th inning.
The Pirates carried a 4-3 lead into the eighth. Right-hander Daniel Hudson faced five batters and walked three, loading the bases with two outs. Left-hander Wade LeBlanc entered and walked in the tying run, losing pinch-hitter Jeff Mathis on a full-count fastball off the plate. The earned run went to Hudson, who has allowed 10 runs, nine earned, in his past six innings.
In the ninth, Arizona had a leadoff single and a bunt single, putting the winning run at second base, but were thwarted by the Pirates defense. Chris Herrmann popped up a bunt to closer Tony Watson, and Jordy Mercer turned an inning-ending double play on a ball in the hole.
After Osuna's blast, Watson (2-0) pitched the 10th to secure the win. With runners at the corners and one out, starting pitcher Zack Greinke pinch-ran for an injured player at first base, and Patrick Corbin, another starter, pinch-hit. Corbin fouled off five balls and struck out. The Pirates intentionally walked Goldschmidt to pitch to Jake Lamb, a left-handed hitter with hits in his previous three at-bats. Lamb rolled over a grounder to second base, ending the game.
Nova entered the start Sunday with the third-lowest run-support average among qualified National League starts, at 2.71 runs per game, two spots better than rotation mate Gerrit Cole. He had more help Sunday, plus some splendid defense, and needed every bit of the aid.
Nova scattered nine hits and three runs in six innings. He walked one and struck out four.
For the first time this season, the Pirates handed Nova a lead before he took the mound. The advantage could have been larger. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs after a leadoff single, a hit by pitch, a wild pitch and a walk issued by ineffectively wild left-hander Robbie Ray. A run scored when Gregory Polanco hit into a double play, but a rally died despite another walk.
After Ray spent 27 pitches in the top of the first, Nova needed 30 in the bottom half. The Diamondbacks surged ahead on Goldschmidt's two-run home run. Arizona's assault _ single, double, home run and walk _ surpassed the early offense against Nova in his previous seven starts this season. His first-inning line before Sunday: two hits, one walk and no runs allowed.
Lately, manager Clint Hurdle has reinforced the impact of a team's fourth run. The Pirates' record prior to Sunday was 13-2 when scored four runs or more, and 2-20 when doing otherwise. Their climb from one run to four came in quick succession in the third inning, when Andrew McCutchen and Josh Bell sandwiched home runs around Polanco's single.
For Bell, the opposite-field homer was his seventh home run this season, and his fourth while batting from the right-handed batter's box. Bell is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger for the most home runs this season by a National League rookie.
Ray labored through four innings on 88 pitches before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. The left-hander was charged with four runs on six hits, three walks and a hit batter. Ray, who entered the game averaging 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings this season, struck out only two Sunday.
Nova steered the ship smoothly from the second inning until Goldschmidt's second home run, a 451-foot rocket that ricocheted off the video board in straightaway center field, pulled the Diamondbacks within a run, 4-3, in the fifth inning.
Nova was at 91 pitches when he returned for the sixth. He had yet to pitch fewer than six innings in a start this season. With one out, back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for leadoff man A.J. Pollock. Nova delivered a sinking fastball inside, and Pollack pulled it on the ground toward third base. Josh Harrison scooped the ball, tagged the bag and fired across the diamond for an inning-ending double play.
The Diamondbacks needed no hits, however, to tie the score in the eighth. Hudson, a former Arizona reliever, walked the bases loaded and LeBlanc walked pinch-hitter Jeff Mathis, forcing in a run, before striking out Goldschmidt looking to end the inning.
Options Hurdle did not use in the eighth were left-hander Felipe Rivero, who threw 24 pitches in 1 2/3 innings Saturday, and Watson, the closer who spent 25 pitches in an inning Saturday.
The series finale in Phoenix brought to an end a stretch in which the Pirates played 17 games in 17 days. They spent 11 days the past two weeks on the road. After an off day Monday, Pittsburgh are scheduled to play 16 games in 16 days. The upside is 12 are home games.
"My family is back in Pittsburgh," said Hurdle, whose wife and two younger kids spend most of the school year in Florida. "I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with them."
