PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes’ shortest start in two months came at an inopportune time Sunday, both in terms of the opponent and the state of the bullpen. Skenes was pulled after 5 1/3 innings, pushing Colin Holderman to pitch the seventh and take his third loss in five days in a 6-5 Pirates loss to the Diamondbacks at PNC Park.

Holderman, who has struggled against the Diamondbacks in particular of late — nearly blowing a four-run lead last Sunday and surrendering the deciding run in Friday’s loss — was one strike away from completing the seventh before Joc Pederson launched a sinker to left for a go-ahead three-run home run.

“We made some pitches and we were one pitch away, which I executed down and away at 100 mph,” Holderman said. “Normally that works, but he made a better swing, put it backside, deepest part of the yard. Tip the cap.

“It seems like it’s been a lot of that lately,” Holderman continued shortly after. “That’s kind of the spot that we’re in. I’ve been executing pitches and the outcome hasn’t been what I liked. We’re going to take it one day at a time and we’re going to get out of this. Had a good two months to start the season, rough patch here and now we’re going to have another two great months to finish it. Not worrying too much.”

Holderman is in the roughest patch of his Major League career, also allowing the deciding home run to the Astros in the Pirates’ loss on July 31. In total, he has allowed seven earned runs (eight total) over his last 3 1/3 innings after surrendering just seven earned runs (10 total) through his first 34 games.

Manager Derek Shelton had lefty Jalen Beeks up in the bullpen and seemingly ready to go before the Pederson at-bat, but Shelton opted to not make the switch since Beeks had already pitched the last two games and three of the past four. He would end up pitching the eighth inning in what seemed like an adjustment in gameplan.

“Holdy’s got to be better,” Shelton said. “He’s got to make a pitch. He’s pitched in that spot for us all year and it didn’t work.”

Shelton later brushed off a question about Holderman’s status as a setup man, saying they would need to figure that out during the off-day Monday.

For Skenes, he was able to get through five scoreless innings despite striking out only four and missing the zone more than usual (44 balls on 100 pitches on the start), but he tailed off towards the end of his outing, allowing a leadoff triple to Corbin Carroll in the sixth and being removed with two runners on base. Hunter Stratton was able to minimize the damage to just one more run, but given the state of the bullpen after having to pitch five innings in Saturday’s rain-affected game, it was a less than ideal spot, and the Diamondbacks were able to chip into a 4-0 deficit and eventually come back to win.

The Diamondbacks boast one of the deepest lineups in the game and entered Sunday with the most runs scored in the National League (569). While the start of Skenes’ career has been brilliant — he now owns a 1.99 ERA through 14 starts — he has had a tendency to let at-bats and innings get long on him, and that happened to him again Sunday.

“They definitely didn’t help,” Skenes said. “They’ve got a good lineup. They are not going to let me, or anybody else, get away with just not throwing strikes. They are going to grind it out. It was one of those days.”

“It’s the first time we’ve really seen him scatter the ball a little bit,” Shelton said.

The Pirates ended up rallying in the ninth and putting the tying run on third, but Oneil Cruz struck out in an 11-pitch at-bat against A.J. Puk before Bryan De La Cruz popped out to right.

With the loss, the Pirates dropped a pivotal series to the Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card race, and they are 56-55. Their next three series include the Padres twice with the Dodgers in between, so they aren’t in a position to lick wounds. Getting Holderman back on track would be pivotal in these key series.

“I think just keep going at it,” Holderman said. “I’ve been executing the gameplan, executing my pitches. Sooner or later, it’s going to get that one zero and we’re off to the races again. It’s just finding that next zero.”