Pirates produce little offense against Arizona ace Zac Gallen in loss to D-Backs

One evening after mustering just four hits in a series-ending loss to the Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates were once again limited offensively Friday, this time by Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen, in the first game of three against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

The Pirates, down Andrew McCutchen and Ke’Bryan Hayes, both of whom were placed on the 10-day injured list ahead of the game, recorded six hits in a 7-3 loss.

A pair of eighth-inning runs by the Pirates (40-48), who are 1-6 to begin the month of July, proved insufficient for a rally against the NL West-leading Diamondbacks (51-38).

Gallen, who was recently selected to his first All-Star Game, entered Friday night’s contest with an 8-0 record and 1.50 ERA in nine starts at Chase Field.

With the Pirates in town, Gallen (11-3) continued his dominance at home, pitching seven innings, allowing a run and four hits while striking out five with zero walks.

Picking up his 11th win, Gallen is now tied with Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan for the most in baseball.

“He’s good,” manager Derek Shelton said of Gallen on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “That’s why he’s leading the National League in wins. The ability execute the fastball to both sides of the plate, in addition to the cutter — the chanegup’s elite — but yeah, he was really good.”

Pirates starter Rich Hill ran into trouble in the bottom of the third, issuing a leadoff walk to Jake McCarthy, who stole second base, beating a botched pickoff attempt.

After Ketel Marte singled him to third, McCarthy scored on a bunt single by Corbin Carroll.

With Marte and Carroll aboard, still with no outs, the next batter, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., made the game 4-0 with a towering three-run homer to left field, crushing an 87 mph fastball.

Two more Diamondbacks hits, both infield singles, followed before Hill got Nick Ahmed to fly out to end the inning, at which point his pitch count had risen to 67.

The start to the bottom of the fourth proved to be a mirror image of the third.

Hill walked the leadoff man McCarthy, who quickly made a dash to steal second base.

From the stretch, Hill threw the ball to Carlos Santana at first base, hoping to erase McCarthy in a rundown, but for the second time, Santana sailed his throw to second over the head of Nick Gonzales.

In the third, shortstop Tucupita Marcano was able to prevent the ball from entering the outfield. The second time, he couldn’t, with McCarthy advancing to third with no outs.

Hill managed to get two groundouts from Marte and Carroll, but Gurriel once again dialed in on a fastball, blasting it into the left-center gap for an RBI double, handing Arizona a 5-0 lead.

The night ended for Hill (7-9, 4.78 ERA) after four innings, over which he allowed five runs, all earned, on seven hits while walking four and striking out three.

“I didn’t throw the ball well, and it’s been really frustrating for me of late, putting us in these positions,” Hill said. “It’s extremely frustrating. The ball didn’t come out of my hand the way I wanted to — no excuses. The walks are unacceptable. I didn’t throw the ball well. That’s it.

“I let the guys down in here, and that’s the toughest part. I need to figure out what I’m doing going into the All-Star break, work on some things and come back with a different mindset.”

Marcano got the Pirates on the board in the fifth, singling home Jared Triolo, who doubled.

But the Diamondbacks went up 7-1 in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs off of Yohan Ramirez.

An Austin Hedges throwing error to second base, in an attempt to prevent a double steal by Carroll and Gurriel, led to Carroll scoring. Soon thereafter, Christian Walker doubled home Gurriel.

Ramirez, relieving Hill, pitched two innings, allowing two runs on four hits with a walk.

From there, with Arizona reliever Justin Martinez taking over in the top of the eighth, the Pirates loaded the bases via walks issued to Marcano and Jack Suwinski and Henry Davis being hit by a pitch.

With two outs, Santana came to bat and drove in a pair with a single up the middle.

But Ji Man Choi, activated from the 60-day injured list Friday, struck out for the final out with men on first and third.

Choi went 0 for 4.

Notably, with Hedges exiting the game after Josh Palacios pinch-hit for him in the seventh, Davis made his big-league debut behind the plate, catching the eighth inning with Dauri Moreta on the mound.