Pirates escape wacky finish in desert

Rodriguez delivers double in 13th

Associated Press

PHOENIX

Sean Rodriguez lined a double over the head of Arizona left fielder Shelby Miller to drive in the go-ahead run.

Wait. Shelby Miller, the Diamondbacks’ No. 2 starter, out in left late in a game?

Sure was. And that was only a small part of the wackiness at Chase Field on Sunday.

“Top-five crazy,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said after the Pirates held off the Diamondbacks 12-10 in 13 innings on Sunday.

A game that started like a blowout quickly devolved into a what-will-happen-next series of blown leads, clutch hits and desperation.

The Pirates led by five runs after three innings and blew two-run leads in the ninth and 12th, setting up a back-and-forth of bizarre-but-necessary moves involving pitchers.

Zack Greinke, Arizona’s starter tonight, came in to pinch hit and lined a single during Arizona’s 12th inning rally. He was replaced by Miller, who scored a run as a pinch-runner.

Miller had to stay in the game after shortstop Nick Ahmed was ejected for arguing a called third strike, becoming the first Diamondbacks pitcher to play a position and first major leaguer since Jason Gurka played right field for the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 15, according to STATS.

Miller had a hard time tracking down Rodriguez’s double off Evan Marshall (0-1) in the 13th, though the run was going to score anyway.

Pittsburgh turned to a pitcher after Rodriguez’s hit, sending out Jonathon Niese, scheduled starter Wednesday against Colorado. He came through, too, battling through a nine-pitch at-bat to line a run-scoring single to left that gave the Pirates two-run lead.

The game ended with Arquimedes Caminero striking Patrick Corbin, another starting pitcher-turned-pinch-hitter, and Miller for his first career save.

“Really this whole series, some weird stuff went on,” said Pirates left-hander Kyle Lobstein, who pitched scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th. “At the same time, we still battled. We had some things that didn’t go our way, had some bad luck, but we persevered at the end. That’s what it’s all about.”

The Pirates had a season-high 20 hits and were up 8-3 through three innings after roughing up Robbie Ray.

Arizona rallied by scoring twice in the eighth and Paul Goldschmidt tied it in the ninth with a two-run homer, his second of the game.

Pittsburgh scored twice in the 12th to go up 10-8, but Neftali Feliz (1-0) couldn’t hold that lead.

The Diamondbacks scored two runs off him in the inning but failed to get the winning run in despite having a runner on third with one out.

“The opportunities were in front of us,” Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said.