Lowe's Infield Single in the 10th Sinks Arizona

Brandon Lowe reached on an infield single to first in the tenth inning, scoring the winning run as Pittsburgh walked off Arizona 3-2 on July 27. Lowe finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored — the story of the night was a guy who beat the Diamondbacks twice with grounders that barely left the infield.

Arizona looked like it had the upper hand after Max Kepler's sixth-inning double to right scored both Carroll and Perdomo to put the Diamondbacks up 2-0. Kepler was sharp all night — 3-for-5 with those 2 RBI — and Merrill Kelly was making it look easy on the mound, working 5.2 innings, allowing just 4 hits, zero earned runs, and punching out 6. Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller was shakier, giving up 6 hits and 2 earned runs in 5.1 innings, and it appeared Arizona was in control of a game it had no business losing.

Then Pittsburgh started chipping. In the bottom of the sixth, Lowe reached on an infield single to shortstop and Mangum scored to make it 2-1. The Diamondbacks held that lead into the eighth, but Bryan Reynolds doubled to center and Lowe scored to tie it at 2-2. That double was the turning point — Pittsburgh's win probability swung from 33% to 62% on that single swing of the bat, a 30-point shift that flipped the entire complexion of the game. Reynolds finished 1-for-4 with the RBI, and that one hit looks like it saved Pittsburgh's night.

From there, both bullpens locked in. Juan Morillo was excellent for Arizona — 1.1 innings, no hits, no walks, 2 strikeouts — and Gregory Soto matched him with a clean inning of his own, 2 strikeouts on 1 hit allowed. But extra innings have a way of exposing thin margins, and in the tenth, Lowe came through again: an infield single to first, Cook scored, and Pittsburgh had its third run. Final: PIT 3, ARI 2. Nick Gonzales went 2-for-4 and quietly kept Pittsburgh's lineup moving all night. Arizona's offense, outside of Kepler, couldn't find a second gear — Carroll and Perdomo each went 1-for-5 — and that appears to be the difference in a game this tight. Pittsburgh earned this one the hard way, two infield singles at a time.