Pittsburgh Pirates’ Rodolfo Castro, center, is tagged out trying to steal third base by San Francisco Giants third baseman J.D. Davis (7) during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed May 31, 2023 (AP News photo)
Pittsburgh (28-27). 004 202 001. – 9. 14. 1
San Francisco (28-28) 011 011 000. – 4. 12. 2
Time: 2:32
Attendance: 23,817
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
By Lewis Rubman
SAN FRANCISCO–This afternoon’s rubber game of the three contest series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and your San Francisco Giants was not a pretty sight. Exciting, yes. Interesting, yes. But you could tell by the quality of play that this was a day game – and a 12:45 start at that! – after a night game. The Pirates won it. definitively, 9-4.
The Giants chose Alex Wood (1-0, 3.51 at game time). The sinker, slider, changeup lefty was not sharp today. He lasted only 4-1/3 innings, in which he managed to throw 94 pitches, 55 of them counting as strikes.
Wood gave up six runs, all of them earned, and left two inherited runners, who didn’t score, when he was relieved by Ryan Walker. Wood took the loss, leaving him 1-1, 4.80 for the season. He struck out four and walked three.
Wood’s opposite number for Pittsburgh, righty Mitch Keller came to work with a 6-1, 3.01 record but was coming off an awful outing in Seattle where he yielded six runs in as many innings while getting credit for the win last Friday.
He wasn’t impressive today, either, but he got the job done, lasting six frames and allowing four runs, all earned, on 10 hits, a walk, and two wild pitches. He struck out eight and made 101 deliveries to the plate, 74 of them going for strikes. He was the winning pitcher, and his record now stands at 7-1, 3.25.
The Giants opened the scoring in the bottom of the second after Blake Sabol’s shot grounder just barely made it through to center for a single, he moved on a base on a walk to Haniger, and came home on Patrick Bailey’s single to left. Schmitt grounded into double play to end the inning, the third twin killing at this early spot in the game.
The Bucs counter attacked in the top of the third. Ji Hwan Bae drew a walk. Austin Hedges sent him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Bae scored on Andrew McCutchen’s double to left, tying the game.
With two outs, Wood plunked Connor Joe. Rodolfo Castro singled to left, driving in McCutchen. and sending Joe to third while Castro went on to second on Blake Sabol’s bad throw home.
Both runners crossed the plate on Ke’Bryans triple … again to left. When Jack Suwinski went down swinging for the third out, it was 4-1 in favor of the Pirates. They tacked on two more in the fourth on Bryan Reynold’s double with Bae and McCutchen in scoring position.
Flores’s Texas League single to center in the bottom of the frame plated Wade, who had doubled with one down, to close the gap. to 4-2.
The men from the Monongahela added two more tallies in the fourth on a Bryce Reynolds single with Bae and McCutchen in scoring position, and the home team countered with the fifth when Yastrzemski hit a triple that hit the wall between the AAA and State Farm Insurance advertisements in right center and scored on a wild pitch.
Hard hitting by Pittsburgh and bad fielding by San Francisco (specifically a throwing error by Wisely at second on what should have been a double play) enabled the Pirates to put two more runs on the board in the top of the sixth, giving them an 8-3 lead.
Schmitt almost made it a close game in the sixth, but Reynolds a leaping catch of his drive over the top of the left field fence that change what looked like it would be a home run into a sacrifice fly.
Luke Jackson came in to. pitch the top of the seventh or the orange and black, who still trailed 8-4. He kept it there, and Rob Zastrzyzny and Dauri Moreta combined to keep the Giants off the board in their half of the frame.
Tyler Rogers brought his submarine delivery to the mound for the Pittsburgh eighth. He held the Pirates to a lone single.
Robert Stephenson put the Giants down in order in the eighth.
Camilo Doval allowed another Pirate tally in the top of the ninth. It came on a walk to Joe, who stole second, and scored on a Texas League single by Suwinski, mixed in with three strike outs.
Yohann Ramírez closed it for Pittsburgh, allowing a single to Brett Wisely, who was erased in a game ending double play.
The Giants have tomorrow off and will play their next game at home at 7:15 Friday evening against the Baltimore Orioles. The orange and black against the orange and black– Halloween in June. Dean Kremer (5-2-4.58) is scheduled to start for the O’s; Logan Webb (4-5,2.75) for the Giants.
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