PHOENIX — Pittsburgh left fielder Startling Marte singled in second baseman Neil Walker with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Pirates a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a pitcher’s duel at Chase Field on Saturday.
Walker doubled off right-hander Addison Reed (0-1) with two outs before Marte grounded a single into left field through a hole vacated when the Diamondbacks over-shifted to put shortstop Cliff Pennington more in the hole than normal.
Pirates left-hander Tony Watson (1-1) gave up singles to right fielder Ender Inciarte and center fielder A.J. Pollock to open the last of the eighth inning but got out of the inning on a grounder, a foul popout and a strikeout.
Right-hander Mark Melancon pitched the ninth inning for his fifth save as the Pirates (10-8) won their season-high fourth straight.
Catcher Tuffy Gosewisch had two hits and an RBI and second baseman Chris Owings had two singles and two stolen bases for the Diamondbacks (8-9), who have lost three of four.
First baseman Pedro Alvarez had two hits and an RBI and Walker had two hits for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh right-hander A.J. Burnett gave up one run and five hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking two. Burnett, who threw 88 pitches, has given up five earned runs in four starts this season and has a 1.80 ERA.
Arizona right-hander Rubby De La Rosa gave up one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out a season-high eight without a walk. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter after throwing 98 pitches.
Owings singled with two outs in the second inning, stole second and scored on Gosewisch’s single to right field for a 1-0 lead.
The Pirates tied it in the fourth on doubles by Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez.
Owings singled and stole second in the fourth inning but was stranded at second.
NOTES: Arizona RHP David Hernandez faced four batters and threw 16 pitches in an extended-spring training game Saturday morning at the Diamondbacks’ Scottsdale training complex, his first appearance in a game since undergoing Tommy John surgery on in April of 2014. He is expected to return in mid-May. … Arizona SS Nick Ahmed, whose .128 batting average is the second-lowest among major league qualifiers, was given a day off. Cliff Pennington started at short. … Pittsburgh CF Andrew McCutchen entered the game with 996 hits. He would be the 33rd player in franchise history with 1,000 hits. … Pirates 1B Pedro Alvarez had seven home runs, four this season, in his first 20 games at first base. He made the position change from third base for good this season.
