PITTSBURGH (AP) — Josh Bell homered from both sides of the plate in his Arizona debut, Ketel Marte also hit two home runs and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 on Friday night after blowing a five-run lead.
Acquired Tuesday from the Miami Marlins for cash considerations, Bell tied at 7 with two outs in the seventh with his second home run of the night, hammering Aroldis Chapman’s slider 370 feet to right.
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Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, right, is greeted by Joc Pederson, left, and manager Torey Lovullo, center, after scoring during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll hits a triple during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Carroll scored on a throwing error by Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, right, is greeted by Joc Pederson, left, and manager Torey Lovullo, center, after scoring during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell watches his home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen reacts after scoring during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz watches his RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Joc Pederson, left, is greeted by Josh Bell, right, after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Geraldo Perdomo, after fouling a ball off the inside of his right knee, drove a sweeper from Colin Holderman (3-3) to the gap in right-center for a go-ahead double in the eighth.
Marte then hit his second homer of the game and 26th of the season in the ninth off an 0-1 cutter from Dennis Santana.
Justin Martínez (5-2) struck out the side with one walk in the eighth for the victory.
Oneil Cruz led off the ninth for Pittsburgh with a single, his fifth hit, and scored on Rowdy Tellez's one-out RBI single. Ryan Thompson then got Joey Bart and Ke'Bryan Hayes to ground out for his second save.
Cruz's RBI single in the sixth put Pittsburgh — down 5-0 in the first — ahead 7-6. Andrew McCutchen scored on the slow dribbler, initially called out on a throw by second baseman Marte before it was overturned on a challenge.
McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds hit RBI singles ahead of Cruz in a four-run sixth.
The Diamondbacks scored on their first four at-bats against Luis Ortiz, who allowed six runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Leadoff batter Corbin Carroll tripled down the right-field line before going home when a relay from Cruz got past Hayes at third.
Marte followed with first homer. Joc Pederson then sent a slider from Luis Ortiz 430 feet to right, over the wall and into the Allegheny River, and Bell made it three straight homers with one to right-center on the first pitch he saw as a Diamondback. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. later scored on a groundout from Alek Thomas.
Bart hit an RBI single in the fourth before McCutchen and Reynolds had consecutive two-out doubles the fifth. Cruz cut it to 5-3 on a single off Brandon Pfaadt, who gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Thomas had an RBI single for Arizona in the sixth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RHP Bryce Jarvis was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a sprained right elbow. Surgery is not an option, manager Torey Lovullo said.
Pirates: INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (left knee sprain) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Altoon. Acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, the 29-year-old utilityman has been on the IL since July 2.
UP NEXT
RHP Mitch Keller (10-5, 3.30 ERA) was set to stary for the Pirates on Saturday, opposite LHP Jordan Montgomery (7-5, 6.51).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll hits a triple during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Carroll scored on a throwing error by Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, right, is greeted by Joc Pederson, left, and manager Torey Lovullo, center, after scoring during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell watches his home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen reacts after scoring during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz watches his RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Joc Pederson, left, is greeted by Josh Bell, right, after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
CHENNAI, India (AP) — For nearly four decades, residents in southern India's coastal city of Chennai have patrolled moonlit beaches at night trying to protect sea turtles and their hatchlings that for millennia have nested along these shores.
Hungry dogs, locals looking for a snack, and disorienting lights are among the hazards facing the olive ridley turtles and their eggs, which can take up to 60 days to hatch. Many turtles are caught offshore in fishing nets, which this year alone have killed hundreds of them in the area.
Nonetheless, local residents have collected and helped to protect more than 260,000 turtle eggs this year in Tamil Nadu state, whose capital is Chennai.
Patrollers scan the beaches looking for turtles nesting or small sand mounds that might indicate eggs are buried underneath. When they find a cache of eggs, they transport them to a protected area and rebury them at the same depth as they were initially found. This is crucial since temperatures affect what sex the turtles will be. Researchers say rising temperatures from human-caused planet warming are resulting in fewer male turtles being born.
“We cover a lot of ground, at least 30 kilometers (18 miles), by breaking into smaller groups and each group walking seven or eight kilometers,” said a volunteer named Melvin, who goes only by his first name and has been working with turtle conservation groups for several years.
The patrols begin around midnight each day during the turtle nesting season, which runs from December to April.
The Associated Press saw one volunteer dig carefully at a possible nesting site until his hand was elbow-deep in the sand, where he found the eggs. He and other volunteers carefully brought the eggs out, counting a total of 137 of them. They were placed in a cloth bag and brought to the safe haven of a nearby hatchery.
“I come during my summer holidays to Chennai just to do this,” said Yajur Karthik, an 11-year-old volunteer from nearby Bengaluru city who has been coming for the last two years to help protect the turtles.
Karthik said he feels it's important to help conserve the turtles given the growing number of challenges these ancient creatures face.
“Only one in a thousand turtles survives,” he said.
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls into the sea after it was released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A volunteer guides endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings toward the sea on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls toward the sea after it is released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl into the sea after they were released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl toward the sea after they are released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls toward the sea after it is released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl toward the sea after they are released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Forest officials show olive ridley turtle hatchlings to visitors before releasing them into the sea at Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A volunteer holds a olive ridley turtle hatchling on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A young olive ridley turtle crawls out of an egg shell at a hatching center on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A young olive ridley turtle crawls out at a hatching center on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Markers are placed where the olive ridley sea turtle eggs are buried in sand for hatching on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A volunteer collects broken egg shells at a hatchery for the olive ridley sea turtles on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Visitors look for the olive ridley sea turtles through a bamboo fence at a hatchery on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A crow flies over a hatchery for the olive ridley sea turtles on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A stray dog tries to feed on the carcass of an endangered olive ridley turtle on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official and a volunteer carry olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach to a hatching center, in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Forest officials and volunteers look at a carcass of an endangered olive ridley turtle on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official carries olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach to be taken to a hatching center, in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official counts olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official collects olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official searches for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official marks an area holding olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official searches for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A forest official walks with volunteers to search for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
