PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen bounded up from his slide, indicated that he was safe and, after a review, was proven to be right. After falling behind by five runs after a historically poor start to the game, the Pirates were up by a run in the bottom of the sixth.

They couldn’t finish it, though. Aroldis Chapman and Colin Holderman could not hold down Arizona, and despite overcoming Luis Ortiz’s rocky first inning, the Pirates ended up losing to the D-backs, 9-8, at PNC Park on Friday.

And while it’s way too early to push a panic button, the consequences of this game were felt in the ballpark all game, whether it was chants of “he’s safe” while the McCutchen play was being reviewed or the rowdiness of the crowd as the Pirates nearly pulled off perhaps their best comeback of the season. But both teams are in the thick of the National League Wild Card race, and close doesn’t quite cut it in baseball.

"I don't think it's too early,” said Derek Shelton about if this game had a pennant-chase atmosphere. “You get in a situation with the team that's above you, a team we just played, a team that played in the World Series. [They are] really good. Games are important. That's why I was proud of our group for continuing to battle back. We've just got to finish that game."

Ortiz struggled out of the gate in his start, surrendering a triple to leadoff hitter Corbin Carroll that turned into a Little League home run when Oneil Cruz made a throwing error to third. Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson and Josh Bell followed with back-to-back-to-back home runs to build a quick 4-0 lead for Arizona. According to OptaStats, it was the first time a team started with at least 15 total bases in the first four batters of the game. The Diamondbacks tallied another run before the inning was over.

Given the lack of an available long-relief man after using Jake Woodford in a five-inning spot start Wednesday, Shelton opted to push Ortiz, who regrouped spectacularly, not allowing another hit until the sixth inning, which became the final run scored against him in his 5 1/3 innings.

"Me and Joey [Bart] got together during that inning,” Ortiz said about the first, via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales. “Joey told me to start from zero again and go back out there and do my best next inning."

Ortiz did, saving the bullpen and giving his team a chance to mount a comeback.

"We always learn from our mistakes, and I've been through this before like you said,” Ortiz said. “It's just turn the page and go again. There's nothing else we can do."

The offense chipped away, especially in the four-run sixth inning that featured RBI hits by McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds and Cruz. It was one of a career-high five hits for Cruz, who was able to shower off his three-error performance in Houston on Wednesday.

But it wasn’t enough for the bullpen. Bell got a hold of a 102.9 mph Chapman fastball for his second home run of the game, and Holderman took his second loss in as many games, surrendering a two-out RBI double to Geraldo Perdomo on a 1-2 hanging sweeper.

After being one of the team’s most reliable relievers in the first half of the season, Holderman has not been sharp of late, nearly blowing a four-run lead in the 10th inning on Sunday to the D-backs, surrendering the game-deciding home run to Mauricio Dubón on Wednesday and now failing to keep the game tied Friday.

"It's finishing people,” Shelton said of Holderman’s struggles. “I know the other day with Dubón it was the first pitch, but a two-strike base hit today. We have to be able to finish."

With the loss, the Pirates are now 55-54 on the season and 1-3 against the Diamondbacks. They’re still in a position where they are just a good week or so away from being in a playoff spot, but that’s tough to achieve with losses like Wednesday and Friday.

The cup-half-full outlook, though, is that they were all but left for dead four batters in and nearly beat the defending National League champs.

“It's always a good sign that our team is fighting back,” said Cruz, via Morales. “That's a sign of a playoff team. Hopefully, we'll be there at some point.”