The mission for the Pirates coming into a three-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks at PNC Park had to be a sweep.

With the first postseason tiebreaker now head-to-head matchups (the one-game playoff is a thing of the past thanks to the expanded postseason field), a sweep would have given Pittsburgh a 4-2 edge in the season series. Unfortunately, after losing a heartbreaking 9-8 affair on Friday night, the goal was to take two of three.

The Pirates won by a score of 4-2 on Saturday evening, and that goal seemed more than realistic with Paul Skenes taking the mound on Sunday afternoon.

Things got off to a promising start when Bryan De La Cruz, last week’s huge trade-deadline acquisition, drove in Isiah Kiner-Falefa, last week’s other huge trade-deadline acquisition, with a single in the bottom of the first inning to make it 1-0. The Pirates erupted for more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Catcher Yasmani Grandal doubled to right field to score Joey Bart and Ji Hwan Bae to make it 3-0. Kiner-Falefa then followed with a triple to right field to make it 4-0.

As for Skenes, it wasn’t his greatest day, but he was still pretty good, as he held Arizona scoreless through five innings. But things unraveled a bit for the rookie phenom in the top of the sixth. Speedster Corbin Carroll led off the inning with a triple off the Clemente Wall and then scored on a groundout by Ketel Marte to second base to make it 4-1. Joc Pederson followed with a single to center and Josh Bell drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one away. Skenes then was lifted for Hunter Stratton who immediately allowed a single to Jake McCarthy which drove in Pederson to make the score 4-2. Stratton retired the next two batters to limit the damage to two runs.

It would be up to the bullpen to hold Arizona at bay over the final three innings.

But the bullpen struggled mightily in Friday’s loss and continued to have problems with Diamondbacks hitters on Sunday afternoon. Speaking of which, no Pirates reliever has struggled more than Colin Holderman as of late, and the top of the seventh inning was no different. He allowed two walks in between a sacrifice bunt before striking out Marte. However, with two outs, Pederson launched a three-run home run to left-center field to give Arizona a 5-4 lead.

The Pirates bats were quiet over the next two innings, save for a Bryan Reynolds one-out double in the bottom of the seventh.

Marte then gave the Diamondbacks an insurance run when he hit a one-out homer in the top of the ninth to make it 6-4.

The Pirates mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth when Andrew McCutchen led off with a walk before Grandal singled to right. With Michael A. Taylor pinch-running for Grandal, Kiner-Falefa popped out to the pitcher while trying to put down a sacrifice bunt. Reynolds then singled to right to score McCutchen to make it 6-5. Taylor made it to third on the play to give the Bucs runners at the corners with just one out. But Oneil Cruz struck out swinging before De La Cruz popped up to right field to end the game.

The Pirates are now 56-55 and in third place in the National League Central Division. They’re six behind the Brewers for first place and three-and-a-half back of Arizona for the third wildcard spot.

Next up for the Pirates is a three-game series against the Padres at PNC Park, starting Tuesday night. San Diego holds the second wildcard and is four games ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings. After finishing up the homestand against the Padres, the Bucs will travel to Los Angeles for a weekend series against the Dodgers. Pittsburgh will then head to San Diego for three more games starting next Monday evening.

Needless to say, these next nine games could go a long way in shaping the remainder of the Pirates 2024 campaign.