San Francisco Giants pitcher Blade Tidwell collects himself after walking the Pittsburgh Pirates Oneil Cruz forcing in a run in the bottom of the first inning at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Thu Sep 3, 2026 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
Thursday the San Francisco Giants (58-83) wrapped up their three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (69-72) as the Giants lost the three game set to the Pirates 5-2 at PNC Park.
First pitch was delivered under sunny skies with some uncomfortably warm temperatures each team looking for a series win. The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
The Giants struggled at the plate through the first six innings getting very little offense. The Pirates would add two more runs in the sixth inning taking a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning.
The Giants rallied in the seventh inning scoring two runs cutting the Pirates lead in half 4-2. Jonah Cox and Turner Hill both walked and Jung Hoo Lee doubled driving in Cox for the first runs with Hill advancing to third base.
Nate Furman grounded out but Hill would add another San Francisco run in the inning. With two innings left in the game the Giants would be looking for more offense and it just was not happening.
They went three up three down in the top of the eighth. San Francisco relief pitcher Ryan Walker needed to keep Pittsburgh off base in the bottom of the eighth. Walker unfortunately gave up the Pirates fifth run of the game and baring another crazy San Francisco rally this game was all but a done deal.
The Giants struck out three times in the top of the ninth inning and that was the ball game in favor of Pittsburgh. The Pirates had walked off with the series.
GAME RECAP
The Pirates started off this game taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Spencer Horwitz scored the first run and Bryan Reynolds scored the second. The Giants offense was quiet in the opening inning in fact it was pretty silent through the first six innings of the game.
The Pirates scored two more runs in the sixth inning Oneil Cruz scoring the first and Jake Mangum scoring the second giving the Pirates a 4-0 lead. So far in this game it had been all Pittsburgh.
San Francisco got a rally going in the top of the seventh inning. After such poor production at the plate they started a comeback late in the game. They were able to score two runs and cut the Pirates lead in half 4-2.
They got a little help from the mound with both Jonah Cox and Turner Hill walking. With no outs Jung Hoo Lee doubled Cox home for the first run. Turner would score when Nate Furman grounded out. Christian Koss lined out to end the inning.
The Giants went three and out in the top of the eighth inning. The Pirates scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Mangum scored on a Triolo sacrifice and Pittsburgh had a 5-2 lead going into the ninth inning.
San Francisco was down to their last three outs and desperately needed to get something going. Jonah Cox, Turner Hill and Jung Hoo Lee all struck out and that was the ball game 5-2. The Pittsburgh bullpen had done a great job holding the Giants to only two hits.
GAME NOTES
There were some glaring struggles today for the Giants in this loss. They couldn’t generate much offense. They were only able to score two runs and really struggled to put together sustained rallies.
They came away with only two hits in the game. While they were few and far between San Francisco did not cash in on opportunities with runners on base. Several innings ended without that one big hit that could have changed their momentum, could have changed the entire game.
The Pirates had a great day on the mound. They kept the Giants off balance. San Francisco wasn’t able to get into favorable counts or string hits together. The Giants fell behind early and were not able to mount any kind of comeback.
The San Francisco offense was really humming in games one and two but the Pirates controlled game three from start to finish. The Giants got timely hitting yesterday a huge contrast to game three today.
Blade Tidwell took the mound today for San Francisco. He went five innings allowing two hits, two earned runs, five walks and five strikeouts. Compared to his previous outing Tidwell had a fairly solid start. The positives were only giving up two hits and striking out five.
He did have a lot of walks, free baserunners, which is why he needed 95 pitches to get through five innings. The bottom line though is that he was not the main reason the team lost today. It all came to down to the production at the plate which was non-existent.
This was just an extremely rough day for the Giant’s offense. They have been so up and down all year and it’s just downright frustrating for the team. They have played some outstanding games here and there but they have just not been at all consistent.
Friday night the Giants will try to re-group beginning a new series taking on the New York Mets. Matt Wilkinson will take the mound for San Francisco. He has a 0-2 win/loss record and a 4.63 ERA. The Mets will start Nolan McLean. He comes into the game with a 10-8 win/loss record and a 3.06 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:10 PM.
