PITTSBURGH (AP) — James McCann singled in the winning run in the 12th inning with his fourth hit of the game and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on for an 8-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night despite blowing a six-run lead.
Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs for the Pirates to spark a three-run rally against closer Paul Sewald in the ninth to tie the game at 6-all and force extra innings. Lowe's two-run shot was his team-leading 22nd of the season.
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Pittsburgh Pirates' Endy Rodríguez hits an RBI single off of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds celebrates with third base coach Tony Beasley after hitting a solo home run off of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Gerardo Carrillo (68) celebrates with catcher James McCann, left, after getting the final out of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
It was Sewald’s third blown save in 27 opportunities.
The Pirates also had a three-run eighth to make it 6-3 on RBI singles by Ryan O’Hearn, Endy Rodríguez and Marcell Ozuna.
Both teams scored runs in the 10th on errors.
Geraldo Carillo (1-0) got his first major league win as the Diamondbacks won for the 11th time in 17 games. McCann’s winning hit came off Wilbur Dotel (1-3).
The Diamondbacks’ Brandon Pfaadt pitched seven scoreless innings, left with a 6-0 lead, and was in line to win his career-high sixth consecutive start since returning from Triple-A Reno on June 30. However, the bullpen blew the lead.
Pfaadt gave up six hits, struck out four and walked one. He was a 13-game winner last year but was sent to the minor leagues on June 4 after struggling.
Pirates rookie Bubba Chandler struggled to get through four innings. Four of the five runs Chandler allowed were earned, and he surrendered eight hits as he put the Pirates in a five-run hole.
The Pirates had 14 hits, including two each from Jake Mangum, Lowe, O’Hearn, Nick Gonzales and Ozuna.
Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3, 2.64 ERA) starts the rubber game of the three-game series Wednesday against RHP Jared Jones (2-1, 3.72).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Pittsburgh Pirates' Endy Rodríguez hits an RBI single off of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds celebrates with third base coach Tony Beasley after hitting a solo home run off of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Gerardo Carrillo (68) celebrates with catcher James McCann, left, after getting the final out of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral, with the two leaders discussing ways for Ukraine to produce its own powerful weapons and “other ideas that could help” in its ongoing war against Russia.
The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems — a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks.
Taken together, those meetings underscore how much the U.S. president, once a major skeptic of continued assistance to Kyiv, has warmed to Zelenskyy as Ukraine continues to withstand the Russian barrage more than four years after Moscow's invasion in 2022. The Ukrainian leader, whose relationship with Trump in his second term was marked by a raucous White House visit in which he was denigrated for being ungracious, has worked to court the Republican administration while relying on both likely and unlikely allies in Trump's orbit to exert their influence with the president.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has consumed much of the Trump administration's focus this year, has also become gradually entwined with Ukraine, with Ukraine firing on at least one Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend while Zelenskyy asserts that Russia has been offering satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf to Iran.
In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the “good meeting” and the Republican administration's efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war. Officials also agreed that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's main envoys, would make a trip to Kyiv sometime in the future, according to a person familiar with the talks who was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.
“The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” said Zelenskyy, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham, a close ally. “We also spoke about diplomacy — it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”
Trump on Tuesday night weighed in on his meeting with Zelenskyy, calling it a “Great Honor” to meet with him. “Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Later during his whirlwind, one-day visit to Washington, Zelenskyy posted that he met with officials from Lockheed Martin for further cooperation in both defense production and exchanging of technologies, saying, “Ukraine has a lot to share with those who help us protect lives.”
Later, in a meeting with senators at the Capitol, Zelensky again made his case for why Ukraine needs Patriot interceptors, as well as a sweeping sanctions bill to impact morale and increase pressure on Russia, according to two people with direct knowledge of the private discussion. They were granted anonymity to disclose details of a closed-door meeting.
While Ukraine remains grateful to Trump for agreeing to issue a license to manufacture the Patriots, Zelenskyy emphasized to senators that that is a longer-term solution. This year, Zelenskyy said, Ukraine will need the U.S. to provide missiles that Kyiv would pay for with European funds, said one of the people with knowledge of the meeting.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who like Zelenskyy was in Washington for Graham's funeral, also spoke to senators, saying Ukraine retains strong support from NATO and the European Union in terms of providing and paying for weaponry, as well as imposing sanctions on Russia.
Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute, said expanding production capacity for Patriot interceptors is not only vital for Ukraine, but also for the U.S. and its Gulf allies, particularly as supply runs low during the war in Iran.
“Ukraine has shown that its defense industry is capable, innovative and creative,” Coffey said. “I have no doubt that when they’re granted the license, they will be able to produce these missiles which will hopefully mean there will be more available for the U.S.”
Trump welcomed Zelenskyy to the White House as the Ukrainian leader traveled to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other exports.
In a Fox News interview Tuesday, Trump recalled Graham's hawkishness and said the South Carolina senator's support for Ukraine never wavered. Trump said Graham had suggested it was time to make a deal with Iran but had no similar suggestion for the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Ukraine, he's very militant about,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends." "I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you."
The Trump administration's embrace of Zelenskyy also comes as Laura Loomer, a far-right activist with the U.S. president’s ear had a recent, widely publicized change of heart on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy also warned that Russia has been aiding Iran as the war persists by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appear in Iran. The Ukrainian president also asserted that there was a “clear correlation” between Russia’s images and subsequent Iranian strikes.
Iran is a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and has helped Moscow build up its drone expertise.
But on Monday, Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran.
“I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.”
On the Caspian Sea attack, the foreign ministers of Iran and Ukraine spoke about the matter, according to statements posted on social media Tuesday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the conversation “frank” and said Ukraine’s focus is “solely at defending our country from Russian aggression" and not on targeting civilians.
Iran has said at least one sailor was killed in the attack. For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is also not seeking escalation but “made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable."
Zelenskyy had a busy itinerary during his latest visit to Washington. During his meeting at the Capitol, which was held just before a key vote on the Russia sanctions bill and after Graham's funeral, the Ukrainian leader argued that they have a window to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, according to one of the people with direct knowledge of the meeting.
In a bipartisan 86-12 vote, the Senate took the first steps toward passage of legislation to penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports after more than a year of negotiations.
The bill has dozens of backers from both major political parties and is seen as the main policy tribute to Graham, who died unexpectedly this month from a tear in his aorta. It imposes tariffs on goods from the world’s top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, including China and India.
The legislation also includes sanctions against Putin; senior Russian political and military leaders; and Russian financial institutions and energy projects.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol with from left: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., following a meeting of bipartisan leaders of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks to President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, before the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Tuesday July 28, 2026, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, as Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, is seated left. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, before the funeral service for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Tuesday July 28, 2026, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Laura Loomer, right, interviews Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday July 23, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
FILE - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks od during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
