To cap off a wild ten-game road trip on the west coast, the Pittsburgh Pirates (59-52) lost in rather incredible and frustrating fashion on Sunday, 3-2 in ten innings to the Arizona Diamondbacks (49-63).
Furthermore, All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen was injured after he hit a sacrifice fly to left field in the eighth inning, which tied the game at the time. He immediately showed discomfort and left the dugout with trainers.
That was the beginning of a difficult last few innings for the Pirates, who were unable to take the lead in that eighth. The offense left baserunners stranded throughout the game, going 0-10 with runners in scoring position. In the bottom of the tenth, Mark Melancon (1-3) allowed a double to Diamondbacks catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, who later moved to third base on a wild pitch. Nick Ahmed then walked, putting runners on the corners with one out for Andy Marte.
Melancon appeared to escape the trouble by inducing a ground ball to shortstop Jordy Mercer, who threw to Jayson Nix at second. As Walker went to turn what should have been an inning-ending double play, his throw was deflected by the hand of Ahmed, who was sliding in to try breaking up the double play. Manager Clint Hurdle immediately emerged from the dugout to protest the play, but was unsuccessful in his pleas to the crew, who left the field signaling the end of the game.
Replays appeared to show that Ahmed stuck his arm up on purpose to hit the ball out of the air, but the second base umpire did not rule interference on the play. Gosewisch scored to end the game and split the series. Pittsburgh finished the road trip 5-5 and now returns to PNC Park Tuesday for a homestand featuring Miami, San Diego and Detroit.
