The Pirates made a game out of one that looked buried, but the rally ran out of runway in the 12th inning.
Pittsburgh erased a six-run hole late, tied Arizona in the ninth, and still came up on the wrong end of an 8-7 loss to the Diamondbacks at PNC Park on July 28. It was the Pirates’ second straight extra-innings game after a 3-2 loss in 10 innings the day before.
The night started with Pittsburgh staring at a 6-0 deficit in the bottom of the eighth, and the comeback began with the sort of small steps that had to come first. Bryan Reynolds walked, Ryan O'Hearn doubled him home, and Nick Gonzales followed by beating out a throw from Geraldo Perdomo to keep the inning alive. Endy Rodríguez then singled in O'Hearn to make it 6-2.
Rodríguez stole second, and Marcell Ozuna reached when Perdomo got a glove on the ball but couldn’t make the throw in time, allowing Gonzales to score from third and trim the margin to 6-3. Pittsburgh then brought in Jared Triolo to pinch-hit for Jacob Gonzalez and Billy Cook to pinch-run for Ozuna, with the tying run suddenly in play.
Triolo came close to delivering the big blow. He got to a 3-0 count and nearly launched a three-run homer that would have tied the game, but the ball hooked foul before he eventually struck out against Brandyn Garcia.
The ninth inning brought the real surge. Jake Mangum opened it with a double off Paul Sewald, and Brandon Lowe followed with a two-run homer that cut the lead to 6-5. Lowe turned on a sweeper over the plate and sent it 103.7 mph off the bat and 415 feet into the right-field seats for his first homer since July 5 and his team-leading 22nd of 2026.
Reynolds kept the line moving right after that, hammering a fastball inside for a game-tying homer to right-center. The drive left the bat at 101.6 mph, traveled 402 feet, and gave Reynolds his first homer since July 9 and his 15th of the season. The crowd at PNC Park erupted, and Pittsburgh still had a chance to win it in regulation.
O'Hearn doubled with one out in the ninth on a blooper that Arizona couldn’t corral, but Gonzales struck out and Rodríguez popped out, sending the game to extras.
Neither team broke through in the 10th at first, though Arizona eventually scored after a challenge overturned a play that had nearly gotten the automatic runner out at third. Gregory Soto then induced the double play ball he wanted, but Triolo couldn’t handle it, and the Diamondbacks pushed across a run before Soto limited the damage.
Pittsburgh answered right back. Tyler Callihan bunted Rodríguez to third, and Triolo hit a ball hard enough that Tyler Locklear couldn’t handle it, bringing home Rodríguez to make it 7-7. Mangum lined out and Lowe popped out, leaving the game level.
Wilber Dotel worked a clean 11th, getting Ketel Marte to ground out, intentionally walking Max Kepler, and then watching Locklear bounce into a double play. But the Pirates couldn’t cash in. After Reynolds was intentionally walked, Valdez struck out and O'Hearn grounded into a double play to keep things going.
In the 12th, James McCann singled to put Arizona back in front 8-7. Dotel kept it there, but Pittsburgh went quietly in the bottom half, with Gonzales grounding out before Rodríguez and Callihan struck out.
The Pirates can still take the series with a win tomorrow, a result that would matter in the National League Wild Card race.
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