Three-run homer not enough for Pittsburgh

Associated Press

DENVER

Pedro Alvarez gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a chance with one dramatic swing in the ninth inning. Only this time, the surprising NL Central contenders fell short.

Alvarez hit a tying three-run homer, but Dexter Fowler hit a winning sacrifice fly off Jason Grilli in the bottom half to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 victory on Monday night.

Neil Walker had three hits and Andrew McCutchen added two more for the Pirates, who have lost three of four since the All-Star break. They remained one game back of division-leading Cincinnati, which lost 5-3 to Arizona.

Wilin Rosario led off the ninth with a single against Grilli (1-3) and moved to third on a one-out single by pinch-hitter Jason Giambi. Fowler hit a deep fly to McCutchen in center field and Rosario slid home ahead of the throw.

“Pedro gave us a chance to get back in it and [I] just didn’t do what I wanted to do out there, that’s all,” said Grilli, who entered with a 1.82 ERA in 36 games. “Some days you’re the hero; some days you’re the goat, man. I can’t let his affect me. It’s not going to affect me.

“Things have been going good. It’s kind of weird to have a night like this. It stings pretty good. But I’ll bounce back. Made some pitches, left them up and they did what they’re supposed to do with it.”

Intermittent rain, heavy at times, fell throughout the night and finally prompted a 53-minute rain delay with one out in the top of the ninth and Colorado leading 4-1.

McCutchen and Walker singled off closer Rafael Betancourt, and with Alvarez at the plate the tarp was brought out.

After play resumed, Alvarez hit reliever Rex Brothers’ first pitch, a 98 mph fastball, into the left-field seats.

“It’s just tough because you got to sit down for so long and resume play like nothing happened,” Alvarez said. “You got the adrenaline going before the rain delay and you just get kind of stagnant. We deal with it all the time; we’re used to it.”

Alvarez said he “was just trying to get on base” and pounced on a fastball that “was over the plate.”

Brothers (5-2) got the win despite serving up the tying home run.

Jeff Karstens allowed four runs — all in the fifth — and six hits in seven innings for Pittsburgh. He also drove in the first run of the game with two out in the fifth when he came up with runners on first and third and bounced a single over the head of first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

“I was trying to see the ball deep, and hit it the other way,” said Karstens, who had two RBIs in his previous 130 career at-bats. “I got lucky. I was like, ‘I hope he can’t jump.’ ”

Karstens extended his scoreless streak to 16 innings before the Rockies grabbed the lead in the fifth.