San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (left) congratulates Giants closer Camilo Doval (right) at the conclusion of the bottom of the ninth inning at PNC Pittsburgh on Fri Jul 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday evening the San Francisco Giants (50-41) took on the Pittsburgh Pirates (41-50) at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and took advantage of a three run seventh inning to pass the Bucs on the scoreboard for a 6-4 win. The Giants were able to continue the way they left off going into the All-Star game. They will also be aiming to fight their way past the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers in the NL standings.

After the first four innings of the game, neither team had scored a run. In the fifth inning the Giants took the lead 2-0. Michael Conforto singled Brandon Crawford and Austin Slater home for the first lead of the game.

The Pirates answered with a couple of runs in the fifth inning to tie up the game 2-2. Ji Man Choi knocked one out of the park and Jared Triolo scored on a balk.

San Francisco broke the tie in the sixth inning when Crawford grounded out to shortstop and Luis Matos scored. The Giants had taken back the lead 3-2.

The Pirated not only tied up the game in the sixth inning 3-3 but took the lead 4-3. Choi hit a sacrifice fly and Bryan Reynolds scored for the tie. Henry Davis who was on third scored for the go ahead run when Tucupita Marcano sacrificed.

The seventh inning was huge for San Francisco scoring three times to take a 6-4 lead which would be the final. Patrick Bailey singled and both Wilmer Flores and J.D. Davis scored on Pirate errors and the Giants had won the first game of this series.

In game two the Giants will send Alex Cobb to the mound with a 2.91 ERA and a 6-2 win/loss record. Johan Oviedo (3-10 ERA 4.75) will get the start for the Pirates. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 PM.