Paul Connors, Associated Press The Diamondbacks' Orlando Hudson glances back at first baseman Craig Wilson as he is caught in a rundown on a pickoff attempt in the fourth inning last night at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Pirates lost, 8-7. Click photo for larger image. Looking ahead Tomorrow: Pirates (Ian Snell 3-3) vs. Astros (Taylor Buchholz 3-3), 7:05 p.m. Where: PNC Park. TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. Related articles Pirates Notebook: Top pick from 2001 still hurting Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Diamondbacks box score Game play-by-play

PHOENIX -- Faltering in the first inning, falling just short in the ninth, unable to hit in the clutch, incapable of winning on the road, if not for this, if not for that, one-run loss after one-run loss, blah, blah, blah ...

Tired of reading about it yet?

Imagine how the Pirates must feel grinding through this Groundhog Day of a season, in which nearly every aspect of every game plays out the same way again and again.

"We got behind, came back and put ourselves in position to win," manager Jim Tracy said after the latest chapter, an 8-7 edging by Arizona last night that completed the Diamondbacks' three-game sweep at Chase Field. "We always seem to sit here and talk about that. We always seem to be one hit away from doing a lot of good things."

"It's tough," left fielder Jason Bay said. "Every time, we got down by a few runs, you think the game's over and -- boom! -- we're back in it. But it's not enough. It's starting to be the same story over and over."

This one stuck firmly to the script, from the sloppy start to the almost-had-'em finish.

The Pirates were down, 8-3, entering the eighth, which Freddy Sanchez opened with a single. Bay, the next batter, went the other way with a fastball from reliever Jason Grimsley for his 13th home run, his seventh in as many games, and the deficit was three.

Arizona closer Jose Valverde came on for the ninth, and pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit welcomed him with a double. Nate McLouth walked. After Jack Wilson struck out, Sanchez drove in a run with a single to center, and Bay another with a sacrifice fly.

Bay, by the way, apparently tried to hit the 1-2 fastball just before that to New Mexico, narrowly fouling off after a fierce swing.

"Just missed it," he said.

That brought up Craig Wilson, who was 4 for 4 to that point, including a second-inning home run that was his first in the past 21 games.

He, too, narrowly missed. He knifed just under another Valverde fastball and managed a towering shot to left-center that brought a gasp from the 18,394 in attendance, but it was caught on the track by left fielder Andy Green for the final out.

"I thought it had a chance," Wilson said.

The latest litany of terrible tallies: The Pirates were swept for the fifth time this season and finished their six-game trip 1-5, dropping their road record to an eye-popping 4-22 and their overall record to 14-33.

Oh, and that record in one-run games: 4-14.

Not even Zach Duke, the wunderkind of 2005, has been immune to all that ails this team, as was evident with his fourth loss in as many starts. He gave up five runs, four earned, on nine hits over six innings to fall to 2-6, tied with the Atlanta Braves' Jorge Sosa for most losses in the National League.

Most of that trouble arose, as was the case in the previous three losses, from erratic command in the early going that allowed Arizona to lead, 4-1, after three innings.

The prime example came when his second batter, Eric Byrnes, tattooed a home run in the first inning on an 88-mph fastball. It was the first of many below-standard readings on the radar gun and, even more unlike Duke, it was planted over the heart of the plate on an 0-2 count.

"It's about fastball location, first and foremost," he said. "I made a couple of mistakes, and they punished them."

Duke insisted he would not allow his record, unattractive as it is, to bog him down.

"I've got stuff that I've got to correct. I've got to figure it out. But I feel like I'm close. I just have to figure it out from the beginning.

Tracy absolved Duke, if only because he departed with the Pirates trailing, 5-3.

"He didn't start really well," Tracy said. "But he kept us in the game."

It was reliever Salomon Torres' three-run seventh that appeared to take the Pirates out of it, those runs coming on Green's two-out, bases-clearing double to left.

Then came the obligatory, insufficient rally.

"It's frustrating, all these games being like this, but it shouldn't wear on us. It really shouldn't," Sanchez said. "We just have to keep hanging in there and hope that it turns around at some point."

Just like it did for Bill Murray before the credits rolled.