What’s the next best thing to taking two of three against a team just ahead of you in the wildcard standings? How about avoiding a sweep?

Sadly, after losing the first two matchups against the Diamondbacks on Friday and Saturday, respectively, that’s all Pittsburgh could hope for on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.

Thankfully, the Bucs had veteran Mitch Keller on the mound; Keller has quietly had a fine season amid all the rightful hype and hoopla surrounding rookie Paul Skenes. He entered Sunday’s contest with a 10-5 record and a 3.34 ERA in 20 starts. As expected, Keller did a fine job keeping the Backs at bay, as he allowed two runs over seven innings, while striking out six and walking two.

However, a struggling Pirates’ lineup already without Bryan Reynolds, who missed the whole series while on the bereavement list, would also be without youngster Nick Gonzales, who was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a groin strain.

With that in mind, it was probably no surprise that Oneil Cruz’s 408 home run in the top of the sixth was Pittsburgh’s only run over the first eight innings.

Rowdy Tellez, pitch-hitting for Connor Joe, led off the top of the ninth inning with a double. Alika Williams, called up to take Gonzales’s place on the roster, came on to run for Tellez but was still at second base after both Joshua Palacios and Ke’Bryan Hayes struck out swinging. Catcher Joey Bart, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter, was Pittsburgh’s last chance and came through with a double to right that scored Williams to make it 2-2.

Veteran Alrodis Chapman set the Diamondbacks down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With Jared Triolo as the automatic baserunner to start the top of the 10th, Ji Hwan Bae laid down a bunt single to the pitcher, making it first and third with nobody out. Gasmani Grandal, who moved from catcher to first base after Williams pinch-ran for Tellez, then walked. Andrew McCutchen then grounded into a fielder’s choice, shortstop to home, to keep the score tied at two. But Diamondbacks’ reliever Justin Martinez uncorked a wild pitch that scored Bae with the go-ahead run. Cruz was then intentionally walked to load the bases again and bring Williams to the plate. Williams was hit by a pitch which allowed Grandal to score to make it 4-2. After Palacios grounded into another fielder’s choice, this time second to home, Hayes came through with a two-out single to make it 6-2.

Closer David Bednar came on earlier in the game to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and preserve a one-run deficit, so this paved the way for Colin Holderman to close out the bottom of the 10th in a non-save situation. But Eugenio Suarez led off the frame with a two-run home run to close the gap to 6-4. After two quick ground outs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered just inside the left-field foul pole to make it 6-5. Speedster Corbin Caroll immediately followed with a triple down the right-field line to put the tying run on third with two outs. But Holderman induced a ground out to first to end this wacky and crazy afternoon in Arizona.

The Pirates are now 53-52, two games back of the third wildcard spot in the National League and three-and-a-half back of the Braves for the fourth seed (top wildcard spot). Pittsburgh lost some ground over the weekend but only some.

Things don’t get easier for the Pirates, as they begin a three-game series in Houston starting on Monday night with Skenes taking the mound against a perennially-contending Astros team that is in a heated battle atop the American League Western Division.