Glasnow shelled in defeat
below .500 for the first time sinceMay 20, 2014.
Glasnow was charged with seven runs in 2⅓ innings, his already elevated ERA from 6.33 to 7.98. Glasnow allowed seven hits, six in the third inning alone, and two walks. He walked two and struck out three. He threw 63 pitches, needing 27 torecord one out in the third.
The Pirates offense achieved a measure of accomplishment, scoring at least four runs for the second time in their past 10 games. One day after snapping Zack Greinke’s no-hitter with his first home run this season, Gregory Polanco was singled, doubled and drove in tworuns.
Early on, before the Arizona barrage, the opening run belonged to the Pirates. Theno-hit watch, in effect until the eighth inning Thursday night, was called off abruptly Friday when Josh Harrison led off the game with a single. Polanco blooped a double down the left-field line, and Harrison crossed home plate, giving the Pirates their first, first-inningrun since May 1.
At the outset, Glasnow looked like the pitcher who five days earlier pitched into the seventh and allowed three earned runs. Glasnow struck out the first batter he faced, A.J. Pollack, with a two-seam fastball. He whiffed two more in the second inning and pitched around a two-outdouble.
The third inning began with Glasnow getting ahead of Iannetta, one ball to two strikes. Glasnow piped a fastball, and Iannetta smashed it offthe batter’s eye in straightaway center field. A rally was born.Patrick Corbin, the Diamondbacks starting pitcher, walked. Pollack tripled between left and center field. David Peralta doubled down theright-field line.
Piratespitching coach Ray Searage emerged from the dugout and attempted to set his rookie straight. The Pirates now trailed, 3-1. The outlook was bleak, but not hopeless.Not yet.
Paul Goldschmidt cracked a single, completing the Diamondbacks’ third-inning cycle, and Jake Lamb singed, too. Yasmany Tomas bounced into a fielder’s choice,putting runners at the corners. The Diamondbacks damage had been done almost entirely on Glasnow’s fastballs.
Drury delivered differently. After a first-pitch fastball for a strike, Glasnow tried back-to-back changeups to Drury. The second, tucked up and in, Drury walloped into the seats in left field. The home run, Drury’s third this season, pushed the Diamondbacks’advantage to 7-1.
Hurdle marched to the mound and relieved Glasnow.
Earlier this week, Searage mentioned Glasnow’s tendency to spray around the strikezone rather than dot up the catcher’s glove at times benefits him. Translation: If Glasnow isn’t sure whether he’ll hit his spot, how could the hitter know? The “randomness,” Searage said, is an edge.
“The hitter can’t say [Glasnow] will do this or do that,” Searage said. “He’s going to try to do this or do that, but does he ultimately do it? He’s getting better at it, but that randomness he brings is an addedplus.”
Before Friday, Hurdle agreed: “The unpredictability can play. Plus the stuff is good and it can be crisp and clean with the velocity and the spin, which can make it challenging.”
No amount of randomness or unpredictability helped Glasnowthis time.
The Pirates got two runs back on Josh Bell’s home run in the fourth — his sixth home run this season, and his third from the right side of the plate. They handed the runs back, with interest, in the fourth on RBI singles fromLamb, Tomas and Chris Owings off reliever Josh Lindblom.
Lindblom carried 3⅔ innings, helping preserve the bulk of the bullpen for Saturday for a game to be started by right-hander Trevor Williams, who lasted just three innings in his first start Monday.
In the seventh, Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato hit Iannetta in the face with an errant fastball. Iannetta dropped to the dirt and was visitedby the team’s trainers. He left the game under his own power, holding a towel to his nose, and was replaced witha pinch-hitter.