 allowed four hits in 7 2/3 innings, then walked off the mound with a trainer with a 2-2 count on Pirates reliever Chris Stratton. Greinke said he felt his injury during that at-bat.''I'm always optimistic about things,'' Lovullo said, admitting that if not for the injury he considered allowing Greinke to go after a complete game.Greinke struck out five, walked none and kept up his recent run of success - he has a 1.09 ERA in his last six starts, allowing five earned runs in 41 1/3 innings. He also raised his scoreless innings streak against the Pirates to 21 1/3 innings.''This is the most consistent that I've seen him. It's angle of the fastball. It's throwing fastballs to both sides of the plate, and he's got three secondary pitches that he can throw at any time,'' Lovullo said. ''We get spoiled by him. We know that he's extremely locked in right now.'' Blake Swihart hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the eighth, and Eduardo Escobar and Adam Jones also homered for the Diamondbacks, who went 6-1 against the Pirates this season. Jarrod Dyson had two hits, scored three runs and stole two bases.Melky Cabrera drove in the Pirates' run with a two-out single in the ninth.Pirates pitcher Chris Archer's first start since April 26, after which he went on the 10-day injured list with right thumb pain, didn't go well. He walked the bases loaded in the first inning, and all three runners scored.Archer (1-3) lasted just 3 2-3 innings, allowing six earned runs on four hits with four walks and a wild pitch.Dyson came home on Ketel Marte's soft single, Escobar scored on an error by third baseman Colin Moran and Nick Ahmed added a sacrifice fly to put Arizona ahead 3-0.Archer rallied to strike out the side in the second inning, but the Diamondbacks plated four runs in the fourth, all with two outs.''Poor. Very, very poor. I just didn't have good command at all,'' Archer said. ''I don't really know what to say other than that.''They exploited my lack of control,'' Archer added, saying his thumb did not affect him.After Dyson's single, Escobar hit his ninth homer of the season. Jones' ninth homer curled inside the left-field foul pole and into the Diamondbacks bullpen in the fifth off Stratton.''Home runs happen, but when you can score runs on some base hits, that's when you know you're offense is clicking,'' Jones said.Escobar doubled in Dyson for his third RBI of the game in the eighth. Swihart hit a long fly and when the ball caromed off the angled wall in right-center and eluded two outfielders, he scored standing up for his second career inside-the-park homer.Josh Bell got two hits for the Pirates, extending his career-high hitting streak to 15 games.TRAINER'S ROOMPirates: Archer's return from injury led to the Pirates optioning RHP Clay Holmes to Triple-A Indianapolis. ... OF Corey Dickerson (shoulder) is on track to throw long toss as soon as this weekend. ... RHP Keone Kela (shoulder) could throw off a mound in the next few days.Diamondbacks: OF David Peralta left the game after five innings with tightness on the right side of his upper back, replaced by Swihart in left field. Lovullo said he hopes some training room therapy will take care of Peralta's issue. ... RHP Taijuan Walker (elbow surgery) was scheduled to pitch four innings in an extended spring training game Wednesday at the team's facility in nearby Scottsdale. But he threw just 17 pitches due to right shoulder soreness and was removed as a precaution, then had an MRI later Wednesday.UP NEXTPirates: Pittsburgh begins a four-game series at San Diego on Thursday, with RHP Trevor Williams (2-1, 3.40 ERA) scheduled to start the opener. He's pitched at least six innings in each of his eight starts this season.Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (3-4, 4.70 ERA) gets the ball at home on Friday against the San Francisco Giants, the opener of a three-game series. It'll be his first career start against the Giants.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Pirates' Bell streaks into series finale vs. D-backs Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell takes the majors leagues' longest hitting streak into the Pirates' Wednesday afternoon series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Phoenix.The Pirates cleanup hitter is smashing the ball, with six home runs, seven doubles and 21 RBIs during his 14-game run. Bell hit two homers in Pittsburgh's 6-2 victory Tuesday night, the first traveling an estimated 446 feet to center field and the second going 460 feet to right.The Diamondbacks intentionally walked him in the ninth with a runner on second and first base open.Bell has 39 RBIs in 39 games, and he already has matched his home run total from 2018."I felt like this for a couple stretches last year and the year before, but to have an extended period of time like this, (I'm) definitely in a good place," Bell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Bell is hitting .421 (24-for-57) during his hitting streak. He went 2-for-4 in each of the first two games of this series. Wednesday's game will serve as the rubber match.Bell will run into Arizona ace Zack Greinke, who has been superb after getting knocked around by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the season opener. He is 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA for the season; 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA in his past eight starts.Greinke has allowed five earned runs total in his past five starts. Included in that stretch was a start at Pittsburgh on April 25, when he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out seven and walking one.The veteran right-hander is 9-4 with a 4.17 ERA in 14 career starts vs. the Pirates.Bell is 1-for-8 vs. Greinke.Pittsburgh welcomes back right-hander Chris Archer (1-2, 4.33 ERA), who was placed on the 10-day injured list April 27 due to right thumb inflammation. He last pitched April 26, when he gave up six runs and six hits in four innings in a 6-2 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers.Archer threw a 60-pitch simulated game on Friday.He has made only two career starts against Arizona, none since 2016. He is 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA in 7 2/3 innings vs. the D-backs.Arizona had won nine consecutive games against Pittsburgh, dating to last season, before being held to four hits in Tuesday's loss. The Diamondbacks were shut out through seven innings by Joe Musgrove before scoring off the bullpen."I was glad to see we got some things moving in a good direction late in the game," manager Torey Lovullo said. "Carson (Kelly) had the home run in the eighth and we had quality at-bats in the ninth. We were one at-bat away from getting their closer in the game. That was our goal at that point in time."It didn't happen, but we'll turn the page quickly." Lovullo is searching for late-inning relief help, since setup man Archie Bradley has an 11.37 ERA in six appearances in May and has been taken out of a high-leverage role."The portion of that bullpen has some questions and there's no doubt about it," Lovullo said on azcentral.com. "I'm looking for guys to step up to get the job done and take control of some situations that exist." Lovullo will look to mix-and-match right-handers Yoshihisa Hirano, Yoan Lopez, Matt Andriese and left-hander Andrew Chafin in the seventh and eighth innings.--Field Level Media
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