Joc Pederson hit a solo home run, Zac Gallen pitched six strong innings, and the Arizona Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Friday night.
The Diamondbacks have now won three games in a row and nine of their last 12.
Trailing 3-1 going into the sixth inning, Arizona scored three runs against Luis Ortiz and Carmen Mlodzinski. Pederson led off the inning with a homer that traveled 453 feet into the right-field seats. Gabriel Moreno then singled in Christian Walker to tie the game, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. scored on a wild pitch from Mlodzinski (2-4).
Pederson homered for the second game in a row. The 32-year-old had hit his 200th career homer in an 8-6 win in Kansas City on Wednesday, another game where the team came from behind.
“We’re gritty,” Pederson said. “That’s what it takes to be a good team. Sometimes you get knocked down and you’ve got to get up, fight back and finish the game strong. Our team’s doing a great job.”
The Diamondbacks are now 54-50, marking their first time being four games over .500 this season.
Gallen (8-5) pitched into the seventh inning but was taken out after walking the first two batters. Kevin Ginkel got out of the jam by striking out Andrew McCutchen and Oneil Cruz before Nick Gonzales grounded out.
Ryan Thompson pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Paul Sewald closed out the game for his 16th save. Gurriel had three hits, all singles.
“Just a hard-fought win against a good baseball team,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “Those are the types of things we’ve been doing a lot lately. We hang in there, duke it out, find a little crack and then string together some good at-bats.”
Gallen allowed three runs on five hits over six innings, with three walks and six strikeouts.
“I know I’ve got to keep us in the game,” Gallen said. “We’ve been pretty great offensively. Just got to give our guys a chance to get us back in it.”
The Pirates scored two runs in the first inning when Joshua Palacios hit a bases-loaded single that brought in McCutchen and Gonzales. Pittsburgh then made it 3-0 in the second inning with McCutchen’s RBI double into the right-center gap.
