Bizarre ninth inning sequence kills Diamondbacks comeback attempt in loss to Pirates

Down two in the ninth inning Wednesday night, the Diamondbacks should have had first and second with one out for Jordan Luplow. When Luplow flied out to right, they should still have had life.

Where that life may have led, we don’t know. Because instead, they had a runner on first and two outs. And when Luplow got under an outside fastball, it put the finishing touch on a 6-4 loss to the Pirates.

Luplow’s at-bat itself can be dissected — manager Torey Lovullo originally tabbed Josh Rojas, before switching to the right-handed Luplow when the Pirates brought in a left-handed pitcher. However, Rojas has a .381 OBP against lefties this season, .095 higher than Luplow does. Plus, Rojas is one of the team’s most consistent hitters; Luplow is one of its least consistent.

But on Wednesday, that decision was secondary to the play that came before it.

After entering the ninth down three, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases for Carson Kelly with no outs. Kelly smashed a one-hopper at third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who fired to second baseman Rodolfo Castro for one out. That’s when things got weird.

First, Castro inexplicably threw to third, where there was no longer a force out, forgoing an easy double play at first. Sergio Alcantara, who had been forced out at second, remained on the bag. Because Alcantara was still there, Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman then chased Emmanuel Rivera from third back to second, presumably thinking he could get tag Rivera out since the Diamondbacks would have two runners occupying second base.

However, because Alcantara was already out, Rivera had the right to second base. Somehow, the Diamondbacks should have escaped the play with only one out.

Except Rivera was standing millimeters off the bag. So when Newman tagged him, he was out because he wasn’t on the base, not because the Diamondbacks had two runners on the same base.

Got all that? If not, you’re not alone. It took nearly a five-minute discussion between managers and umpires to sort out the chaos.

In their respective clubhouses post-game, neither side had much of an explanation.

“When there's zero stimulus and you're in your living room and you're watching and you're unfolding it slowly piece by piece, it's easy to figure out what's happening,” Lovullo said. “But when you're in it and right in the middle of it, it's just a reaction play and it's a little uneasy for the people that are out there.”

Rivera, meanwhile, said he didn’t realize he was off the base until Newman applied his tag.

“I thought I got there,” Rivera said, using coach Luis Urueta as a translator. “My mind wasn't right. And then when I got tagged, that's when I reacted and stepped on the base.”

Lovullo partially attributed the play to not having worked with Rivera during spring training. The third baseman was traded to the Diamondbacks from Kansas City for Luke Weaver last week. However, Lovullo said the Diamondbacks had not prepared for this specific scenario — one that he has never encountered before — during spring training.

The more likely explanation is simply that Rivera — like Newman on the Pirates’ side — simply had a mental lapse in the midst of a bizarre sequence.

For the Diamondbacks, the play punctuated a frustrating night. Despite scraping across four runs, they didn’t record an extra-base hit for just the eighth time this season.

On the mound, Madison Bumgarner struggled through most of his six innings, giving up five runs for his third consecutive start. He struck out eight but allowed eight hits and two walks.

Afterward, Lovullo described Bumgarner’s outing as a “fistfight.” When asked whether he agreed with that characterization, Bumgarner said, “That would've probably been more fun.”

“There were some good parts about tonight,” Bumgarner added, “but they didn't stick around long.”

For him or the team.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bizarre ninth inning sequence caps D-Backs loss to Pirates