Adam Frazier has been doing damage with his bat lately.
But it was his glove that helped Pittsburgh take a series in Colorado.
Frazier had three hits and made a run-saving play in the field, and the Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Wednesday.
Chris Archer (4-5) was making his second start since being acquired from Tampa Bay before the July 31 trade deadline. He allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.
Felipe Vazquez got the last four outs for his 26th save.
Frazier had two doubles and a single, but made what might have been his biggest contribution on defense. With runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth inning, pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta hit a sharp grounder to the hole at second. Frazier made a diving stop and threw out Iannetta to end the inning and preserve the one-run lead.
“Flip’s throwing 100 (mph) so I figured it was coming my way if he got inside of it and he did,” Frazier said. “He smoked it and I reacted. I dove and luckily it stuck to my glove. It saved the game for us. I’m pretty happy I made that play.”
His defense complemented a hot stretch at the plate. He got three hits in his first three at-bats and has raised his average 41 points to .280 over the past two weeks.
“He’s been in a good place on both sides of the ball,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
German Marquez (9-9) tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and David Dahl homered for the Rockies.
Colorado scored just six runs in the three-game series.
“That’s sort of been the theme lately, lately meaning the last few weeks,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We just haven’t seemed to string a big hit in there with a couple baserunners on base. We need that to turn around as we move forward.”
Archer retired the first eight batters before Marquez singled in the third. Colorado broke through in the fourth on Dahl’s two run homer, his fifth of the season, to cut the deficit to 3-2.
“The homer I gave up was one of the only times I shook (catcher Francisco) Cervelli off,” Archer said. “That was my bad. I should have listened to him. It’s huge to get a series “W” going into San Francisco.”
Pittsburgh led early on an RBI double by Gregory Polanco and a run-scoring single by Frazier in the first, and an RBI groundout in the third.
The Pirates added a run on Corey Dickerson’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to make it 4-2. Ryan McMahon’s RBI single made it close again.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (6-6, 4.49) takes the mound against the Giants in San Francisco on Thursday night.
Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (6-4, 4.05) will open a four-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
AROUND THE MAJORS WEDNESDAY
–The Atlanta Braves have shaved another game off the Philadelphia Phillies’ lead in the NL East. Charlie Culberson belted a three-run homer and Mike Foltynewicz worked into the sixth inning of the Braves’ eighth victory in 10 games, an 8-3 dismantling of the Nationals in Washington. Tyler Flowers and Ronald Acuna Jr. added two-run blasts in the fourth off Tommy Milone, who was torched for seven runs over six innings.Flowers had three hits as the Braves climbed within a half-game of the first-place Phillies. Bryce Harper homered for the Nats, who still trail the NL East by six games.
—The Phillies dropped the rubber match of their three-game set in Phoenix as Patrick Corbin struck out nine while allowing four hits over 7 1/3 innings of the Diamondbacks’ 6-0 shutout. David Peralta went 4-for-5 and opened the scoring with a two-run triple in the third. Eduardo Escobar had three RBIs, including a two-run double in the seventh. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez was reached for four runs and six hits in just four innings of work.
–The Diamondbacks took over first place in the NL West by a half-game when the Dodgers absorbed a 3-2 loss to the Athletics. Los Angeles erased a 2-0 deficit before Khris Davis hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the eighth inning. Mike Fiers was sharp in his Oakland debut, allowing one run and four hits over 5 1/3 innings to help the A’s pull within five games of the AL West-leading Astros.
— Milwaukee’s 8-4 win over San Diego gets the Brewers within 1 ½ games of the NL Central-leading Cubs. Jesus Aguilar, Travis Shaw and Eric Thames hit consecutive first-inning homers to ruin Brett Kennedy’s big league debut. Orlando Arcia and Christian Yelich also homered to back Jhoulys Chacin, who gave up three runs over six innings to move to 11-4.
— The Royals crushed the Cubs, 9-0 as Heath Fillmyer allowed three singles over seven innings for his first major league win. Anthony Rizzo drilled Fillmyer with a line drive on the left foot on his third pitch, but Fillmyer stuck around and didn’t allow another hit until David Bote and Tommy La Stella singled with one out in the seventh inning. Adalberto Mondesi and Drew Butera drove in three runs apiece in the rout.
— The Red Sox earned their sixth win in a row as Xander Bogaerts drove in three runs to lead a 10-5 romp over the Blue Jays. Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland each had two RBIs, and J.D. Martinez went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring double. Devers smacked a two-run homer in his return from the disabled list to help Boston maintain its nine-game lead in the AL East.
— Luis Severino picked up his first win since July 7 and Giancarlo Stanton hit his first grand slam in four years as the Yankees knocked off the White Sox, 7-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Severino spotted Chicago a 2-0 lead before improving to 15-5. Aaron Hicks also homered for the Yanks, who bounced back nicely in Chicago after being swept in a four-game series at Boston.
— The Indians’ lead in the AL Central is back to 10 games over Minnesota after Francisco Lindor’s three-run, walk-off homer in the ninth pushed Cleveland past the Twins, 5-2. Lindor’s 29th home run of the season came a half-inning after Miguel Sano belted a game-tying blast. Mike Clevenger received a no-decision after holding the Twins to one run and five hits over seven innings.
— Matt Carpenter slammed his NL-leading 31st home run and Yadier Molina added a solo shot and three RBIs to send the Cardinals to a 7-1 win at Miami. Carpenter’s blast broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning of the Redbirds’ third straight win. John Gant gave up a run and two hits over six innings before the St. Louis bullpen finished a three-hitter.
— The Mariners’ free-fall has continued with their seventh loss in nine games as Marco Gonzales was torched for career highs of seven runs and 12 hits in an 11-7 setback at Texas. Joey Gallo homered twice and drove in four runs to support Yovani Gallardo, who allowed three hits and two runs over six innings to win his fourth straight start. Mike Zunino hit two homers for the Mariners, who scored four times in the seventh to get within 7-6.
— The Angels were 6-0 winners over Detroit behind Jaime Barria, who allowed five hits over 5 2/3 innings. Kole Calhoun’s solo shot in the first put Los Angeles ahead before Justin Upton and Albert Pujols added round-trippers. Pujols has 632 home runs, 28 behind Willie Mays for fifth on the all-time list.
— Jacob deGrom picked up his first victory in nearly two months and received rare run support in the Mets’ 8-0 rout of the Reds. DeGrom struck out 10, and scattered four hits over six shutout innings that lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.77. Brandon Nimmo and Austin Jackson each had three hits and three RBIs as New York took the rubber match of the three-game set.
— The Orioles pulled out a 5-4 win over the Rays on Trey Mancini’s two-run double in the ninth inning. Tim Beckham, Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo homered for Baltimore. Carlos Gomez doubled home a tiebreaking run in the eighth before the Rays dropped back to .500.