By Jeremy Kahn

PITTSBURGH-From the get go things did not go so well for Ryan Vogelsong in the series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Vogelsong gave up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, as those were the only runs that the Pittsburgh Pirates would need on their way to a 5-2 victory before a crowd of 31,364 at PNC Park.

“I didn’t make good pitches when I needed to, the ball were starting in the strike zone and running out I just couldn’t find that really good place to start anything and keep it in the strike zone,” said Vogelsong.

One of Saturday’s heroes, Jung Ho Kang drove in the first run of the inning, as he drew a bases loaded walk that scored Saturday’s other hero Starling Marte, who hit the walk-off home run off of George Kontos in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Pirates the victory.

Neil Walker then singled in Andrew McCutchen with the second run of the frame. Pedro Alvarez drove in the third and final run of the frame, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Nori Aoki in left field that scored Aramis Ramirez.

Despite going 2-5 on this road trip, the Giants are 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top in the National League West and are six vanes behind the Pirates in the Wild Card race.

Three of the five losses on the trip were decided by one run.

“Been the story of this road trip, lot of close games,” said Bruce Bochy.

Francisco Liriano pitched 5.1 innings for the Pirates, as he gave up two runs (both unearned) on seven hits, walking three and striking out five on his way to his ninth win of the season.

Vogelsong went 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out two and his record fell to 9-9 on the season.

This was the 12th loss in the last 17 road games for the Giants, as they are now 31-34 away from AT&T Park this season.

With this being the final meeting of the regular season between the Giants and the Pirates, the Pirates finished with a 6-1 record versus the defending World Champions this season.

On their 26-game stretch, where they do not play a team with a record of under .500, the Giants are now 7-10. The next time the Giants play a team with a record under .500 will be on September 3 when they play the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants finally got to Liriano in the top of the fifth inning, as Matt Duffy picked up his third hit in as many at-bats, went to third on a Posey fielders choice that fell in between Alvarez and Walker and on the wild throw to second.

It was a tough road trip for Buster Posey, as he went 3-for-26 on the trip with just one run batted in.

“I felt like I hit the ball hard a few times, but a little bit off and I do not feel too far off,” said Posey.

This was the 12th loss in the last 17 road games for the Giants, and they are 31-34 away from AT&T Park this season.

Matt Duffy singled for the third time in as many appearances, and then advanced to third base when Posey’s popup fell in between Alvarez and Walker, and Walker’s throw went awry. Duffy then scored the Giants first run of the game, when Alvarez was unable to hold onto Ramirez’s throw for the second error of the inning.

After not scoring for the first four innings of the game, the Giants added another run in the top of the sixth inning, when Gregor Blanco reached second base on when his batted ball went through the legs of Alvarez for an error, went to third on a pinch hit single by Juan Perez and scored on a Nori Aoki single to left field.

With a chance to keep the rally going, Duffy hit a ground ball to Kang, who threw to Walker at second and in turn, Walker threw to Alvarez for the double play. Bochy challenged the call, but after two minutes and six seconds, the play stood.

“Duff had a good day, real good day and their guy has great stuff, we were pretty confident that he was safe at first base,” said Bochy.

McCutchen stretched the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the inning, as he took the first pitch he saw from Jeremy Affeldt over the left-center wall for his 19th home run of the season.

After losing his challenge in the top of the sixth inning, Bochy was able to win a challenge in the bottom of the seventh inning. A Crawford throw pulled Posey off the base for a throwing error; however the umpires reviewed it and the call was reversed after a 1:51 challenge. Just two batters later, Alvarez hit his 20th home run into the left-centerfield seats off of Josh Osich.