Pirates doomed by wild pitches, errors in loss to Diamondbacks

Whether it was wild pitches or errant throws, the Pittsburgh Pirates were off the mark against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it cost them a chance at a series win.

Five wild pitches and a trio of throwing errors were the most prominent mistakes to doom the Pirates in an 8-3 loss Sunday afternoon before 21,418 at PNC Park.

“We didn’t play well defensively,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We made a couple of careless errors that cost us a run, and we’ve got to do a better job of catching the ball. You do that and they’re really athletic, so they’re going to take extra bases, whether it’s stealing or because of our miscues.”

The Pirates (24-22) lost their second consecutive game to Arizona, allowing the Milwaukee Brewers (25-21) to move into first place in the division with a 6-4 win Sunday at the Tampa Bay Rays. The Texas Rangers (29-17), who are in first place in the AL West, visit for a three-game series starting Monday.

The Diamondbacks tagged Pirates starter Roansy Contreras for three runs on three hits and three walks over five innings as the right-hander had trouble with his fastball command.

“When you’re not throwing the fastball where you want to, it’s hard to catch,” Shelton said. “So we’ve got to get the fastball back on the plate.”

Contreras agreed.

“That’s what got me in trouble,” he said, through interpreter Stephen Morales.

It also made it difficult for catcher Jason Delay to block pitches, and he attempted to pick some outside the zone. Like Contreras, Delay took blame for his role in the wild pitches.

“I’ve got to do a better job,” Delay said. “That’s why I’m here, to be a defensive catcher. I felt like I didn’t have my best game today, in terms of containing the ball and keeping it in front of me. I just gave away too many extra bases.”

Corbin Carroll sent Contreras’ full-count slider 368 feet over the Clemente Wall in right field for his seventh homer and a 1-0 Diamondbacks lead. Arizona (27-20) homered the first time through the order in all three games of the series, including back-to-back games with solo shots in the first inning after Ketel Marte did so Saturday.

The Pirates tied it 1-1 in the second inning when Connor Joe drew a full-count walk with two outs, went from first to third on starter Merrill Kelly’s errant pickoff throw that bounced down the right-field line and scored on a wild pitch that bounced in front of catcher Jose Herrera and off his chest protector.

Wild pitches came back to bite the Pirates in the third. Jose Herrera hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on another wild pitch by Contreras for a 2-1 lead. Carroll drew a walk, stole second base and reached third on the wild pitch, but Contreras got Christian Walker swinging at a 2-2 slider to prevent further damage.

“We had a couple of balls that should have been blocked, and we had a couple of balls that we just missed location by 3 feet,” Shelton said. “Overall, defensively, we can’t play like that and expect to win games.”

Contreras’ pitch count reached 65 by the end of the third inning, but he retired the side on six pitches in the fourth. Geraldo Perdomo drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, advanced to second on Herrera’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Pavin Smith’s single to left for a 3-1 lead.

The Diamondbacks’ Kelly (5-3) allowed three runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts and one wild pitch and used a five-pitch mix featuring his changeup to keep the Pirates hitless through the first four innings.

The Pirates’ first five hitters went a combined 0 for 17 while drawing three of the team’s four walks. All three of the Pirates’ hits came in succession in the fifth inning.

They got their first hit with one out in the bottom of the fifth, on Joe’s dribbler to shortstop. Joe went from first to third when Rodolfo Castro followed with a single to right field. The Pirates got their first extra-base hit when Tucupita Marcano doubled down the right-field line to score Joe and Castro to tie the score 3-3.

“That’s as good of stuff as we’ve seen him,” Shelton said of Kelly. “We were able to scratch out a couple of hits and got back in the game. Then we don’t have a shut-down inning when we need it.”

Dauri Moreta (1-1) replaced Contreras in the sixth, but a pair of errors allowed the Diamondbacks to regain the lead. Walker reached second when third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes threw a ball that bounced past Carlos Santana, then scored when Moreta threw wide of first on an inadvertent bunt by Lourdes Gurriel.

Gurriel appeared to be avoiding the pitch, but it hit his bat for a dribbler down the third-base line. That gave the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead.

“It was extremely frustrating to me because we made two careless errors,” Shelton said. “We made a careless error because we didn’t move our feet, which you very rarely see Ke’ do. And then I think Moreta just rushed. He jams Gurriel, so he’s so far back in the box that all he has to do is pick up the ball and make a solid throw. We don’t complete either one of those plays. It changes not only the whole course of the game, but it changes how you use your pitching from there on out.”

Perdomo singled to right to start the seventh, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Rob Zastryzny and reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Herrera. Robert Stephenson replaced Zastryzny but gave up an RBI single to Marte that scored Perdomo to make it 5-3. Carroll drew a walk, and Walker doubled down the third-base line to score Marte and Carroll to give the Diamondbacks a 7-3 edge.

In the ninth, Carroll drew a two-out walk — his third base on balls of the game — then stole second base and advanced to third on Delay’s throwing error. Carroll scored when Walker singled to center to give the Diamondbacks a five-run lead.

“It certainly sped us up,” Delay said of the defensive mishaps. “We, obviously, didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the baseball in situations, and they capitalized on it.”