Another feat of strength from Josh Bell didn’t do the Pittsburgh Pirates much good Wednesday night.

For the second time in two weeks, the switch-hitting slugger homered into the Allegheny River on the fly. Before then, only three balls had splashed into the river without bouncing since PNC Park opened in 2001.

The 454-foot drive with an exit velocity of 116 mph sent a buzz through the crowd, but netted just one run in the second inning of a 9-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. It was reminiscent of May 8, when Bell hit a ball 472 feet into the water during a 9-6 loss to Texas.

“I was selling out over there tonight,” Bell said. “I figured (Rockies starter Jon Gray) would kind of attack that way. It worked out in my favor.”

Bell hit his 15th homer in 46 games after finishing with 12 last season, but Daniel Murphy and Tony Wolters outdid him with three-run shots in the first three innings for Colorado.

“Contributions from everybody,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Sixteen hits, nine runs. On the attack all night.”

Murphy’s homer put Colorado ahead 3-0 in the first inning before Bell’s titanic drive and a double from Kevin Newman cut it to 3-2 in the second. That ended the only sustained pressure against Gray (4-4), who went seven innings for the second time in 10 starts this year. He gave up three runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts.

Gray struck out Bell on three pitches in their second matchup, getting him to chase a curveball dipping out of the zone with an awkward swing leading off the fourth.

“It was another at-bat in another inning until I got to two strikes,” Gray said. “Then I was kind of like, I’m going to pitch you away. I’m not going to make any mistakes here. So get ready to hit the best thing I got.”

Montana DuRapau (0-1), serving as the Pirates’ opener for the second time in five days, allowed Murphy’s homer and lasted two outs. Nick Kingham entered and gave up six runs on nine hits in four innings.

“There’s work to be done (with Kingham),” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve seen better. We haven’t seen as good lately. … It’s at a point now where he wants better, too.”

Wolters broke the game open with his three-run homer with two outs in the third, extending the lead to 6-2. It was his first long ball since Aug. 27 last year.

“I’m just trying to have good at-bats,” Wolters said. “I think the main thing is staying in my zone, not going out of my zone.”

Brendan Rodgers doubled, and Charlie Blackmon and Raimel Tapia each singled to help tack on another three runs in the fifth.

Pittsburgh got a third run when Bryan Reynolds grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Gregory Polanco in the sixth.

UP NEXT

Rockies: RHP Antonio Senzatela (3-3, 4.89 ERA) will try to pitch Colorado to a series sweep Thursday. He’s lasted more than five innings once in his past four starts, but allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings of a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia last time out.

Pirates: RHP Jordan Lyles (4-1, 1.97) has permitted one run or fewer in six of his first eight starts this season, including each of his past three.

 

AROUND THE MAJORS

–Milwaukee pitcher Kyle Davies and Cincinnati hurler Luis Castillo carried sub-two ERAs into their matchup at Miller Park Wednesday afternoon. Neither pitcher made it past the third inning as the Brewers won a slugfest against the Reds, 11-9.

_ Albert Almora Jr. hit his first career grand slam and the Cubs rallied from an early three-run deficit with three homers to beat the Phillies, 8-4. Anthony Rizzo tied it with a two-run blast in the third inning, and Javier Báez added a solo shot in the seventh after being held out of the previous two games with a bruised right heel. Tyler Chatwood earned the win with four innings of one-run, three-hit relief.

_ Lefty Eric Lauer won for the first time in seven starts by limiting Arizona to a run and four hits over seven innings of San Diego’s 5-2 victory. Eric Hosmer delivered a two-run single while the Padres scored three times in the first. Greg Garcia had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run as San Diego completed a three-game sweep.

_ Max Scherzer tossed six shutout innings before the Nationals’ bullpen imploded once again, allowing six runs in the eighth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Mets. Juan Lagares put New York ahead with a three-run double before Rajai Davis crushed a three-run shot in his first at-bat as a Met. The Mets beat Washington for the third straight day, but they finished the game without second baseman Robinson Cano because of a strained left quad.

_ Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back homers while the Braves scored six unearned runs in the second inning of a 9-2 romp over the Giants. Austin Riley also homered for Atlanta, which took advantage of a botched double play to take control in the second. Max Fried collected his first career RBI and allowed two runs in six innings for his third straight win and NL-leading seventh overall.

_ Garrett Cooper’s first major league homer ignited the Marlins’ rally from a 3-0 deficit in a 6-3 victory against the Tigers. Neil Walker tied it with a two-run double in the seventh, one inning before Brian Anderson belted a two-run homer. Miami won its fifth in a row and handed Detroit its eighth consecutive loss.

_ Eloy Jiménez homered twice and the White Sox turned the majors’ first triple play of the season in a 9-4 victory over the Astros. Third baseman Yoan Moncada grabbed Jake Marisnick’s third-inning grounder to start a 5-4-3 triple play. Charlie Tilson’s first career homer was a grand slam in Chicago’s six-run sixth.

_ Gleyber Torres belted two of the Yankees’ five home runs in a 7-5 win at Baltimore. Gary Sanchez, DJ LeMahieu and Thairo Estrada also connected for the Yanks, who have homered 33 times while winning nine of 11 from the Orioles this season. CC Sabathia moved to 3-1 despite yielding five runs and six hits, including home runs by Richie Martin and Renato Núñez.

_ The Rays rolled to an 8-1 pounding of the Dodgers as Avisail Garcia and Kevin Kiermaier each hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Kiermaier also made a rocket throw from center field to cut down Cody Bellinger at home plate, keeping the score tied 1-all in the sixth. Tommy Pham homered for the Rays, and Brandon Lowe singled in the tiebreaking run to spark a seven-run seventh.

_ The Red Sox pulled out a 6-5 win at Toronto on a home run by Michael Chavis in the 13th inning. Mookie Betts put the Sox ahead by connecting off Joe Biagini in the 12th, but Rowdy Tellez extended the game with a two-out drive in the bottom half. Rafael Devers became the sixth player in Boston history aged 22 or younger to homer in three straight games.

_ The Rangers completed a three-game sweep of slumping Seattle as Adrian Sampson pitched into the sixth inning and Hunter Pence homered in a 2-1 victory over the Mariners. After Jesse Chavez got the first five outs, Sampson worked 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief to help the Rangers deal the Mariners the 27th loss in their last 37 games . Pence made it 2-0 with a solo blast in the sixth after J.P. Crawford put Texas ahead with a first-inning single.

_ Kansas City took the opener of its doubleheader with St. Louis as Brad Keller pitched seven-plus innings of two-hit baseball in the Royals’ 8-2 romp over the Cardinals. Keller snapped a six-start winless streak and matched his longest outing of the season, leaving after putting two runners on to start the eighth. Jorge Soler belted a three-run homer off Michael Wacha to cap a six-run third that made it 7-0.

_ St. Louis gained a split of the twinbill as Marcell Ozuna and Matt Carpenter went deep as part of a four-homer barrage in the Cardinals’ 10-3 thumping of Kansas City. Ozuna opened the scoring with a three-run blast and provided five RBIs in the doubleheader. The Redbirds’ bullpen contributed four shutout innings after Adam Wainwright pitched around control issues for five frames.

_ The Athletics picked up their sixth straight win as Frankie Montas struck out nine while scattering five hits over six scoreless innings of a 7-2 thumping of the Indians in Cleveland. Mark Canha homered and drove in three runs to help the Athletics move back to .500 for the first time since April 26. Nick Hundley was 3-for-4 with a solo blast and two RBIs for the A’s, who went 6-2 on their road trip.

_ The Twins and Angels were rained out in Anaheim and will make up the game on Thursday. It’s only the third postponement at Angel Stadium since 1995 and the 12th since the stadium opened in 1966.