By Morris Phillips

When Jean Machi had his stroke of genius at PNC Park on Monday, 416 pitches had already been thrown, 20 runs scored, 12 innings played and no resolution found between the Giants and Pirates.

Then Machi—the portly reliever with just one major league at-bat under his belt who had never been asked to lay down a bunt in a game at any point in his 12-years as a pro—dropped down a near perfect one that influenced reliever Jared Hughes’ poor throw to first, allowing Hunter Pence to score the winning run from second base.

From a managerial perspective, it doesn’t get any better.  Bruce Bochy had no idea if Machi could execute the sacrifice, having never seen him do so, but the Giants’ manager rode a hunch anyway.

“He’s a lot more athletic than he looks,” Bochy revealed.

The Giants won their sixth straight, tenth in the last 11, and maintained their two-game lead in the NL West.  And in a statistical departure from their early-season pattern, the team scored a bunch of runs, got a bunch of hits, and didn’t hit any home runs.  In constructing comebacks from 8-2 and 9-7 deficits, the Giants played patient to a degree, compiling 17 singles and three doubles.  They also spent 5 ½ hours on the field on a cool night, winning a game that seemed lost before it actually got really cooking due to an ineffective outing from spot starter Yusmeiro Petit.

Petit–in for the disabled Matt Cain–went 4 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs, all after the Giants led 2-0 in the second inning.  But the Giants responded with a five-run sixth with Brandon Hicks’ double knocking in Buster Posey and Hector Sanchez.  The Giants then scored two in the seventh, and one in the ninth, tying the game with Posey’s single off Mark Melancon scoring Hunter Pence.

Machi entered the game to start the tenth, pitched two innings, allowed three hits and no runs, and picked up the win.  The 32-year old reliever is a sensation, improving his record to 5-0, tied with three other pitchers for the lead in wins in the National League.  The Giants’ bullpen held the fort again with six relievers throwing 8 2/3 innings and allowing just two runs.  The Giants bullpen holds the second-lowest ERA in the majors through 32 games, 1.86 coming into Monday’s contest.

The Pirates fell for the 18^th time in their last 23 games and are tied for last in the NL Central with the Cubs.  Andrew McCutchen had a triple, double and two singles, and Pedro Alvarez crushed a three-run homer in the third inning, but Pirates’ starter Jeff Locke couldn’t finish the sixth inning, allowing six runs and eight hits.

The Giants look to win their fifth straight on Tuesday, with Tim Hudson attempting to win for the fifth time.  Hudson’s 4-1 with 2.17 ERA and he’ll face Pittsburgh’s Charlie Morton, who’s 0-4.