San Francisco Giants Jorge Soler (2) greets Matt Chapman (26) who slugged a top of the eighth inning three run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Thu May 23, 2024 (AP News photo)
Thursday, May 23, 2024
PNC Park
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
San Francisco Giants 7 (25-26)
Pittsburgh Pirates 6 (23-28)
Win: Luke Jackson (2-1)
Loss: Hunter Stratton (0-1)
Save: Tyler Rogers (1)
Time: 2:45
Attendance: 23,162
By Stephen Ruderman
The Giants have done it again, as they came back late for the second day in a row, today with a five-run top of the eighth inning, to beat the Pirates 7-6 and take the series on Thursday.
Following their worst loss of the season Tuesday night, in which the Giants blew a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth and lost the game, they bounced back with their biggest win of the season Wednesday night, as they came back from down 5-0 to win it.
As the Giants tried to take the series Thursday afternoon, they were up against a challenge, as they had to go up against the Pirates’ young pitching phenom, Paul Skenes. Skenes was making this third-career big league start. Skenes was 1-0 in his first two starts with a 2.70 ERA. He also pitched six no-hit innings in his last start on May 17 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Luis Matos led off the ballgame Thursday, and he hit a ground ball the opposite way into right field to start things off. No rally would metastasize, however, as LaMonte Wade grounded into a double play, and Thairo Estrada swung out swinging to end the innings.
On the pitching front, this would be a bullpen game for the Giants, and left-hander Erik Miller was tasked to be the opener. Unfortunately for Miller, he was greeted to a rude welcome by Andrew McCutchen, who hit a home run to left-center to start off the bottom of the first.
Miller proceeded to retire the side in order after McCutchen’s home run, and Skenes set the Giants down 1-2-3 in the top of the second. Nick Gonzales led off the bottom of the second with a triple to center, but Miller was able to retire the next two guys he faced without the run scoring. Bob Melvin then pulled Miller for Mason Black, who got Joey Bart to ground out to short and end the inning, as the Giants got out of it unscathed.
Skenes pitched a scoreless top of the third, and Black, a 1-2-3 bottom of the third.
The Giants were poised to break through against Skenes get on the board in the top of the fourth. Estrada walked with one out, and Matt Chapman singled him in over to third. Jorge Soler came up and hit a ground ball to third that could have been a double play ball to end the inning, but after Jared Triolo threw to second-baseman Nico Gonzales to get Chapman at second, Gonzales was unable to get a throw off to first, and Estrada scored to tie the game.
The Giants tied it up, but their good fortunes would not last long. Connor Joe walked to start the bottom of the fourth, and O’Neil Cruz struck out looking for the first out of the inning. Black then walked Gonzales and hit Triolo to load the bases for Joey Bart, and of course the former Giant would burn them, as he hit a grand slam to straightaway center to stake the Pirates out to a 5-1 lead.
It surely great for the Giants’ 2018 first round and second-overall draft pick, who struggled to get a footing in San Francisco, but who has found a bit of success since being dealt over to the Pirates on April 2 after making the Giants’ opening day roster but not appearing in a game.
Curt Casali singled with one out in the top of the fifth, but Skenes pitched another scoreless inning. Black ran back into trouble in the bottom of the fifth after giving up back-to-back singles to McCutchen and former Giants’ farmhand Bryan Reynolds. Connor Joe lined out to right, and Black was pulled for left-hander Taylor Roger, who struck Cruz swinging and got Gonzales to fly out to left to end the inning with the Giants’ still trailing 5-1.
Skenes pitched one last scoreless inning in the top of the sixth, and his day was done after giving up a run and striking out three. His ERA is now at 2.25.
Joey Bart looked to do even more damage to his former team with a two-out double off Rogers in the bottom of the sixth. Ji-hwan Bae then tried to sneak in a bunt hit, but he ended up bunting the ball right to Wade at first to end the inning.
Jose Hernandez came in for Skenes in the top of the seventh and got Ryan McKenna to fly out to right to start the inning. Heliot Ramos then hooked a home run down the left field line, his second of the year, to make it 5-2.
Luke Jackson came in for Rogers in the bottom of the seventh, and his struggles continued. With one out, the Pirates got the run right back when Reynolds hit a home run out to right-center, all the way to the back of the stadium, to make it 6-2.
Hunter Stratton, who replaced Hernandez with two outs in the top of the seventh, was back out for the eighth, and the Giants were more than ready to pounce. Wade and Estrada singled to start the inning, and Matt Chapman hit a home run to left-center to suddenly make it a one-run game at 6-5.
It was the eighth home run of the year now the now-white-hot Chapman, who ties Thairo Estrada for the team lead in home runs. Chapman also ended up hitting a home run in all three games of this series.
The Giants were not done yet. Jorge Soler immediately followed up Chapman’s home run with a double to center to put the tying run in scoring position. Wilmer Flores then singled the other way to right to score Soler and tie the game, and for the second day in a row, the Giants came back to tie the game.
Now, the Giants were looking to take the lead. Ramos flew out to right, and then Pirates Manager Derek Shelton pulled Stratton for the veteran left-handed flame thrower, Aroldis Chapman.
Patrick Bailey was at the plate for the Giants, and while he was up, Marco Luciano, who came in to pinch-run for Flores, took second on a wild pitch by Chapman and took third on a passed ball. Brett Wisely then came up with two outs and lined a base-hit up the middle to center field to knock in Luciano and give the Giants the lead.
Randy Rodriguez, who pitched two perfect innings in relief Wednesday night, earned the trust of his manager, Bob Melvin, to pitch the bottom of the eighth in a one-run game. Rodriguez did not disappoint, as he threw a 1-2-3 inning.
David Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for the Pirates, and since Camilo Doval pitched each of the last two nights, Melvin decided to go with the submariner, Tyler Rogers, to try and close out the game with finesse. Bae reached on another error by Luciano at short to start the inning. Fortunately for Rogers and Luciano, McCutchen popped out to short, and Bae was thrown out trying to steal second. Reynolds singled to left with two outs to extend the game, but Joe popped out to Wade in foul territory to end it, and the Giants held on to win another big game.
Luke Jackson got the win despite giving up the home run to Reynolds. He was the pitcher for the Giants when they scored five runs to take the lead in the eighth, so he got the win. That’s baseball. Hunter Stratton took the loss for Pittsburgh, and Tyler Rogers picked up his first save of the season.
The Giants are back to within just a game of .500 for the first time since April 28, as they improve to 25-26. They will now head to New York, where they will take on the Mets for three at Citi Field in Queens starting Friday night. Starting pitcher for the Giants Kyle Harrison (4-1 ERA 3.60) will be on the mound and for the Mets Christian Scott (0-2, ERA 4.32), as the Giants will try and get back to .500 for the first time since March 31. First pitch will be at 7:10 p.m. in New York, 4:10 p.m. back in San Francisco.
News and Notes:
Prior to the game, Blake Snell was placed on the paternity list, as his girlfriend, Haeley, is preparing to give berth. Nick Avila, who was sent down to Double-A Richmond when Snell was activated off the IL yesterday, was called back up.
Stephen Ruderman is a MLB staff writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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