Series Wrap Up: Pirates Keel-Haul Diamondbacks

“We got our butts kicked this series. It’s going to happen from time to time. We’ve got to rebound,” Diamondbacks Manager Bob Melvin said after the 16-2 shellacking the Diamondbacks suffered on Sunday. After whipping through the NL West the Diamondbacks drop three of four to the lowly Pirates, and FutureBacks wraps it up.

After taking two of three at home from the San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in a four-game weekend series. But the Pirates proved to be too much for the D’Backs, winning three of the four games, including a blowout game Sunday afternoon.

The Pirates won 16-2 in the last game of the series. 12 of their runs came in the last two innings, including seven in the ninth off of reliever Kerry Ligtenberg. They also won 6-2 Thursday and 3-2 Saturday. Arizona managed only one win against the Pirates, taking Friday’s game 8-4.

D’Backs starter Brad Halsey suffered his first loss in seven starts after giving up four runs and seven hits in 6.2 innings during Sunday’s game. Arizona’s only runs came when Chad Tracy’s scoring fly ball in the fourth inning brought home Luis Gonzalez, who went on to hit his fifth homer of the season in the sixth inning.

Arizona managed only 14 hits total in the three losses to Pittsburgh, compared to 11 hits in their only victory on Friday. Craig Counsell took note of the lack of hits. “I think as a group, in this series we didn’t do a good job swinging the bats. Everybody’s just got to take it upon themselves to be a better hitter,” he told the Associated Press on Sunday. D’Backs skipper Bob Melvin was less tactful in expressing his sentiments. “We got our butts kicked this series. It’s going to happen from time to time. We’ve got to rebound,” he revealed to AP.

The Pirates now stand at 13-17, tied with the Chicago Cubs for third place in the National League Central. As of press time, the D’Backs are still in second place with an 18-14 record, two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and only one game ahead of the San Diego Padres. After finishing out the homestand with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals, the D’Backs will head to Denver for a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies.